Two of a Kind
by FMAotaku
Summary: "We are humans. Trapped in this world. But how can we run from our past...when it shapes our future? We are snow. Although we may have lost our color, we are still so beautiful. We are the same. We are: Sinners, Survivors, Life Changers, Learning, Succeeding, Rising. We are...Two of a Kind." Edward Elric x OC.
1. A Bitter Beginning

The air was clean and moist. It had started sprinkling rain a little earlier, and it was just getting worse. Edward and Alphonse Elric ran for cover under an awning that stuck proudly out of a nearby building. "Are you sure this is the place, Brother?" Alphonse asked. Edward dug into his pocket and pulled out a small, crinkled piece of paper. He squinted and held it closer to his eyes. It was the early evening and it was already getting dark outside, so the only light he has was getting was from the dim street lamp that was flickering a short distance away.

"That's what the note says," Edward replied while pointing to the neat cursive written in blue ink on the note. "See?" he asked his younger brother. Al leaned over and grabbed the note from Ed's hand. He studied it carefully. "_Fullmetal and brother_-," he read aloud, "_Meet me in the alleyway next to the bakery in town in half an hour. It's important, so don't be late_, _From Col. Mustang." _Edward looked around them, while Al continued to look at the note. "Hmm," Ed said, "Why would the colonel want us to meet in a dusty old alleyway?" Al looked up and surveyed his surroundings.

The alleyway was just a simple space between two buildings. If you walked forward, you would be stopped by a large concrete fence. Old pieces of food was littered everywhere. There were two very large dark green garbage bins. And, based on the look of disgust on Edward's face, Al concluded that a pungent smell was radiating from them. This was one of the times when he was thankful he didn't have the ability to smell.

Ed took the paper from Al and stuffed it into his pocket. He took a few steps deeper into the alleyway, his tall, dark shoes scraping against the damp, dirty concrete. His hands were cold, so he dug them into his pants pockets and started whistling a tune Alphonse didn't recognize. Al was about to ask him what the tune was (to fill in the awkward silence between them) until they suddenly heard the light shuffling of feet above them.

"What was that?" Al whispered. "I don't know…" Edward cautiously replied. "Colonel," Edward spoke loudly, "Is that you?" Al stepped forward towards his brother (because he had a feeling something bad was going to happen) but Ed simply signaled for him to stay back. "Stay over there," Ed hissed. His younger brother nodded and continued to stand stiffly. Edward slowly stepped forward. They heard more shuffling. They looked up, and saw the source of the noise.

The light was barely hitting them, but they were so bright that both the Elric brothers could see them clearly.

Two bright blue eyes.

The two brothers were so mesmerized by them that they kept silent.

The figure with the eyes was crouched on top of the concrete wall in front of them. They leaned forward a bit more and the brothers could see slight facial features of the person. A nose…a jaw…high cheek bones. They squinted in attempt to see them better. Edward almost gasped when he realized it. It was…a girl?

She leapt forward and gracefully landed on the ground in front of them. Ed jumped back and scowled. He put one of his legs behind him for support, and lifted his fists up in preparation for a fight. She was still too far away to see.

"Who are you? What are you doing here? Where's the Colonel?" Edward angrily spat out questions.

Ed and Al both slightly jumped when she started speaking.

"It's an honor to meet you," She spoke softly, venom dripping from her words,

"Fullmetal Alchemist."


	2. Wendy Havoc

Edward was momentarily confused until he started growing impatient. "Who the hell are you!?" he growled. The figure just laughed maniacally in response, and slowly started walking toward them. Feeling threatened, Edward clapped his hands and transmuted his auto mail right arm into a wide blade. The person suddenly stopped walking and her eyes widened.

"So the rumors are true…you _can _transmute without a circle." She whispered excitedly. Edward groaned and spoke again, "Damn it! Stop messing around! Just tell us what you want!"

"'Us'…?" She questioned slowly. She looked past the furious alchemist in front of her, and saw a silent Alphonse standing not too far behind him.

"Aha!" she shouted, while pointing towards Al, "It's confirmed then! You are the Fullmetal Alchemist," she momentarily paused to look at Ed, "and you are his younger brother! I've found you two!" she shouted triumphantly with a grin plastered on her shady face. "Why have you been looking for us?" Edward asked, his voice getting lower in volume.

"So I can destroy you." She whispered so softly they could barely hear her.

_What the hell is this girl talking about? "Destroy us?" The note was obviously a decoy so that she can get us here. But why does she want to "destroy me?" And is she only talking about me, or does she want to fight Alphonse, too?_ Edward's thoughts were in a flurry.

As if she could read his thoughts, the girl said, "My fight is only with you, pipsqueak. I'm not going to touch your brother."

"DON'T CALL ME PIPSQUEAK!" Ed shouted at the top of his lungs, "GET OUT OF THE SHADOWS AND FIGHT ME THEN!"

"Fine. Have it your way." She mumbled. She then quietly stepped toward Ed, out of the dark.

Then they saw her, and their breath caught.

She had long, medium brown, strait hair, bangs slightly parted to the right. Which, being illuminated by the dim light, revealed light auburn highlights. Her skin was light and smooth, showing no obvious flaws. But what made their breath catch was her eyes, shimmering gently, framed in thick black lashes.

They were very large, round, and an unbearably brilliant blue color.

And she looked no older than them.

She was wearing a fitted plain blue tank top, tight black pants, and short navy ankle boots. A grey coat that stopped a little bit past her waist hung loosely on her. She also had on odd-looking fingerless black gloves.

"The name's Wendy Havoc. Pleasure to meet you Edward Elric." She said with a goofy crooked grin, while extending her hand, with no intention he was actually going to shake it.

Ed silently noted that when she was hidden earlier and they couldn't see her, she was much more intimidating. But, now, she just seemed like an ordinary teenager. This caused Edward to laugh under his breath.

"Wait, Wendy _Havoc_, as in Second Lieutenant _Jean Havoc_?" Al called over to her. She frowned and nodded.

"_Obviously she isn't very proud of being related to the Second Lieutenant. But I thought he was a war hero in Ishval? I wonder how she is related to him. A cousin, maybe?_"Al thought.

Wendy obviously tired of just standing and talking, suddenly clapped her hands together and slapped them against the concrete transmuting a large sword.

"She transmuted without a circle!" shouted Alphonse.

Ed simply grunted in response and prepared himself mentally for battle.

"HYEAAH!" Wendy screamed as she flung the weapon at Edward while she touched her hands to the ground ready to transmute some more.

Edward quickly transmuted a wall from the concrete below him, protecting him from getting hit. Wendy, however, soon destroyed his wall without much effort and clapped again. Edward charged at her, not wanting to give her time to transmute.

He thrust his blade at her, and she barely dodged it. The look in her eyes suggested she was not comfortable with Edward being so close. She transmuted the ground beneath him to rise up with a flash of blue light knocking off his balance.

Then, something happened that neither of the Elric brothers would have expected to happen in a million years. She smacked her hands together, touched them to the ground, and then after the flash of light, transmuted the moisture from the ground and the air around them into a gigantic ball of floating water, thrusting her arms forward, the water flying toward Edward.

Edward yelled, and tried jumping back to dodge it, but his efforts were futile. The large ball of water crashed over him, causing him to fall to the ground, soaking wet. Wendy laughed loudly and grinned, her eyes flashing with evil.

"YOU CAN CONTROL WATER!?" Al shouted in disbelief, "BROTHER, ARE YOU OKAY?" His younger brother started running over to Ed, just to be stopped.

"Back off Al! This is our fight; I don't want you to get hurt!" Ed shouted back, while getting up and regaining his composure.

After taking half a second to absorb what just happened, he then grunted and started charging toward Wendy, his blade pointed forward, thirsty for her blood.

She wasn't expecting him to get up at all and involuntarily screamed, not knowing what to do.

"Don't hurt her, Brother!" Alphonse cried out.

Edward let out a loud battle cry, then tackled her, and pinned her on the ground.

"I've got you now, damn it." He said, while forcing his blade up against her neck.

Not daring to scream, Wendy kept silent, while looking into the eyes of the alchemist who had the power to slice her throat open.

Ed growled, a pushed his blade harder against her neck. However, there still wasn't enough pressure to break the skin.

Then he looked into her eyes.

They were such a bright blue; it was almost unnerving how much power they had over him right now. He should have been interrogating her about her motives for attacking him, but instead, he just stared into them, getting sucked into a pool of blue.

_Why was he not saying anything_? Wendy wondered. She should have been trying to find a way out of his clutches, but instead she just looked into his eyes, getting lost in a golden window.

_They're beautiful… the brilliant caramel color of his eyes. They're…magnificent. _Wendy tried ridding herself of these thoughts, but they kept coming back. It was as if she was in a trance, a trance that made her forget what she was doing, or why she was here. Still being pinned on the ground, she just focused on looking into his eyes. She had always thought that by looking into a person's eyes, you could tell what kind of person they are. By what she could see in Edward's eyes, on the outside, she saw anger, and a thirst for blood. But, lingering just underneath, she saw utter kindness, and…pain?

Edward didn't know what to think. He felt like he couldn't think. And for a few moments, all he _could _think was how amazing her eyes were. The eyes he was looking into didn't seem to belong to an evil girl who wanted to attack him. They were soft, and feminine.

And they just laid there, getting lost in each other's eyes, Edward's knife still ready to tear into her neck.

And Alphonse just stood a few feet away, looking at them with awe and confusion.


	3. Jumbled Thoughts

"Brother?" Alphonse whispered, "Are you…okay?" he finished.

A light pink blush swept across Edward's cheeks as he realized he was still on top of Wendy.

Wendy, snapping back into reality, quickly took the opportunity of her opponent being momentarily weak, she firmly grasped Ed's forearms, and flung him sideways, and he landed right next to her.

She leapt up onto her legs, clapped, and thrust towards Ed.

"HEY-" Edward tried saying but got cut off.

She jumped onto him and gripped his right arm and left leg, and there was a flash of light, followed by a crackling noise.

All they heard after that was a loud burst, and shards of metal flew everywhere.

The bright light soon died down, and Wendy looked down at him while breathing heavily.

Edward looked down at himself to find pieces of metal and wires scattered around him.

It was his automail.

"AHHH!" Edward cried out as he struggled to comprehend what had just happened.

This pretty, innocent looking little girl had just destroyed his arm and leg with the clap of her hands.

"Ed! Your automail!" Alphonse shouted. He galloped over to his brother, and bent down to the ground where Ed was hopelessly lying, with his bangs covering his face.

Despite the concern radiating from Al, Wendy was standing a few feet away, trying to cover her laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" Edward softly spoke as he struggled to sit up, using his left arm.

Wendy ceased to try to contain her laughter and burst into a fit of giggles.

"I-haha-knew-haha-I would-haha-beat you!" she said between laughs.

"What was the point of breaking my Brother's automail? Why did you bring us here to fight him in the first place?" Al questioned.

"If you really want to know," she answered, her face still slightly red from her previous state of amusement, "Believe it or not, you are pretty famous, Fullmetal. Everyone is always talking about you. You are, of course, the youngest person in the history of Amestris to become a state alchemist. I wanted to get my name out there as an alchemist myself, so beating the legendary Fullmetal Alchemist in a fight seemed appropriate to do so. I was simply trying to make myself a good, solid reputation, so it was nothing personal."

"'Nothing personal'? You broke my automail! Do you know how long it will take to make me new ones, and how much money it costs!?" Ed growled in return. _Not to mention how much trouble I'm going to be in when Winry finds out. _

"I'll reimburse you." She coolly replied, looking away.

"Wait," she suddenly said turning towards him, "I didn't actually hurt you, did I?"

Edward was furious. _Who the hell does this girl think she is? She thinks she can just mutilate my automail, call me pipsqueak, and expect me to be cool with it? _

He shook with fury, as he cursed under his breath, too angry to reply to her.

"Excuse me miss," Al spoke ignoring his Brother's peril for the moment, "If you wanted to build a good reputation, why don't you just try to pass the exam to become a state alchemist?"

Almost immediately, Wendy replied, "I am a state alchemist. Just got my title the other day, actually. It's "The Sapphire Alchemist". Oh, and don't call me 'miss'. Call me Wendy."

They gasped, and she just grinned widely at their response.

"_You're _a state alchemist? How old are you?" Ed spat.

"The same as you. Fourteen." She said.

"'The Sapphire Alchemist'? What does your title mean?" Al asked.

"I don't know. Some people say it refers to my ability to control water, since sapphires are a dark blue color, similar to water. However some people say it refers to my eyes."

"Well, damn it. How am I supposed to return to Central like this?" Ed said while gesturing to himself.

"I'll carry you there." Wendy said quickly.

A confused look spread across the brothers' faces, and it caused her to blush.

"I mean, well, he can't walk, and I was the one who broke his auto mail, so I will carry him back to Central, since I take full responsibility." She corrected herself.

"You know, I could carry him. He might be too heavy for you…" Al said trailing off awkwardly.

Wendy's blush darkened.

"N-no. I hurt him, so it's my d-duty." She stuttered.

"Alright then," Al sighed, "Take him."

"NO WAY," Edward yelled, "I'M NOT LETTING THIS GIRL CARRY ME! I DON'T CARE IF I CAN'T WALK; I CAN FIND A WAY TO GET BACK MYSELF!"

"Looks like you don't have a choice." Wendy said, a faint hint of embarrassment still left on her face.

Edward groaned, not bothering to protest any further. He had already had enough humiliation today, so he didn't want to make a scene. He decided he definitely didn't want anyone to see her carrying him, because of how embarrassing it would be, so he looked around and concluded it was dark enough outside that that probably wasn't going to be a problem. He finally sighed and nodded towards her.

She nodded back. As Alphonse busied himself with collecting broken parts of his older brother's automail, Wendy strolled over to Ed and bent down.

He refused to look at her while she wrapped her arm underneath his, then tucked her other arm underneath his leg, and lifted him up, bridal style.

Al was done collecting as many pieces as he could and started walking towards the now bright and noticeable street lamp at the mouth of the alley.

"Come on. This way." He called over his shoulder.

Wendy quickly adjusted her arms to be able to hold him more comfortably, and she then scrambled to catch up with Alphonse.

Edward's face was a bright red shade, and when Wendy noticed it, she couldn't help but smile slightly, careful not to let him know she saw him.

While they were walking, every chance she got she would glance down at the small alchemist in her arms and she couldn't help but continuously note how handsome he was. His long golden hair and eyes definitely appealed to her. Also, her mind kept leaping back to when they were fighting and Edward had her pinned against the ground. Her mind kept replaying what it was like just to stare into his eyes. It might have sounded cheesy, but Wendy thought about how it felt like the entire world ceased to exist around them. That it was just them there, no one else. It felt to her like all the pressure and worries in her life were gone. And it felt amazing.

_Wait, why am I thinking stuff like this? I just met this guy. All I came for was to beat him in a battle, then leave. Somehow things ended up with me carrying him back to Central. How did that happen?_

Meanwhile, Edward, still red as a tomato, was concentrating hard not to look up at the pretty girl alchemist who was carrying him right now. He knew that if they met eyes it would just make things more embarrassing. _And what was with what happened earlier, during our fight? Why didn't we move or speak, while we were on the ground? Why did we just look into each other's eyes? _

Ed inwardly groaned, and his whole body stiffened as he realized how weird this whole situation was.

Alphonse's thoughts were jumbled as well. As they walked, he occasionally looked behind him to check on Wendy and his brother. Ed must have been kind of heavy, because even when Al slowed down, she would still be walking far behind.

Al was also hurrying to sort his thoughts about that moment during their fight. He couldn't comprehend what it meant, the two of them just looking at each other, silently.

He was also trying to figure out this girl. At first, she of course seemed dangerous and evil. Then, it seemed as if she was just pretending to be that way. After she broke Ed's auto mail, Al could tell she was genuinely concerned if he was hurt, even after she stated that her sole reason for meeting them was to hurt him. Not only that, but Alphonse was perfectly capable of carrying his brother, but Wendy kept on insisting on her to do it. Al sighed, and continued walking, trying to cease the whirl wind that was going on in his brain.

Then the three of them continued the rest of the way in silence.


	4. Two of a Kind

When they finally arrived in Central, they carefully and quietly trotted up the steps to the building. Wendy was careful not to drop Ed. It was almost completely pitch black outside now, and it took all their effort to see, but they finally managed to step inside.

The lights inside shone brightly and they had to let their eyes adjust for a second before stepping any further. Then, the two brothers and their new "friend" meandered over to the front desk.

Instantly recognizing Al, the secretary looked up from her papers and flashed a broad grin and greeted him.

"Oh, hello Alphonse Elric. Are you ready to find a room to stay in tonight? Or are you here to see the Colonel? Where is your brother?"

Her chestnut hair bob swung back and forth as she spoke. She had dark brown eyes and bold red lipstick that outlined a strait white smile.

"Umm," Al said, looking behind him. Wendy took that as her cue, and walked around Al and stood where the secretary could see her and Ed.

"Oh! The Fullmetal Alchemist! There you are. Who is this?" she asked while furrowing her brows and glancing up at Wendy. She then looked back down at Edward and her eyes grew wide.

"My goodness! Are you alright Mr. Elric? Do you need a doctor?" she spoke.

"No. I just need to see the Colonel, then go to bed." Ed's red color returned to his face again. He really didn't want anyone to see him like this.

She nodded, then looked back at Wendy and raised an eyebrow, apparently now questioning her presence.

"I'm Wendy Havoc. The Sapphire Alchemist. Ed and I previously got into a bit of a friendly quarrel," Edward scoffed.

Wendy continued, "And he got a little damaged. Like he said, we just need to see the Colonel." She replied with a smile.

The secretary looked at her with an expression that said she obviously wasn't impressed by the newly introduced state alchemist in front of her. "Do you have your pocket watch with you to prove such a title?" she asked with one of the most fake smiles Wendy had ever seen.

"Umm…Yes, of course…" she trailed off. Al leaned over and grabbed Ed from her swiftly and then she dug into her pocket and quickly flashed her state alchemist watch.

Edward was not a big fan of being handled like a baby.

"Alright. Go ahead. He's in his office. You may see him now." The woman finally stated.

Wendy nodded and waved goodbye, then took Ed back from Al, and started walking away from the desk.

"Wendy? Colonel Mustang's office is this way," Alphonse said while pointing the opposite direction she was heading.

"Oh. Of course. Sorry." She said, blushing.

"It's alright." He said back, doing his best to smile, even though he wasn't capable of doing so, since he was just a shell of armor.

_She doesn't even know where Mustang's office is? Wow, she must seriously have just gotten her title. She didn't waste any time to find me, did she? _Ed thought, trying to calm the flame of embarrassment showing on his face that now seemed like it was going to stay on him forever.

When they finally made it to the office, they stepped in, only to find Roy scribbling away at something, with Riza standing stiffly beside him, holding an enormous stack of papers.

Riza sighed. "Really, Colonel. If you keep up this pace, you will never finish your paper work in a million years." She said, not yet seeing the three of them step into the room.

The two military officers eventually looked up at them as they gingerly stood by the door.

"Hello Alphonse. And hello…Ed?" Riza greeted as she looked at the odd pair of alchemists beside Al.

Roy's raven hair flung out of his eyes when he started speaking, "Fullmetal! What is the meaning of this? I have a lot of paper work to do, so I don't have time to meet your girlfriend. And _please _stand on your own legs, Edward. Being carried by a girl is disgraceful."

Wendy and Ed's faces reddened, and she almost dropped him while hearing the Colonel speak just then.

"I'm not his girlfr-"

"Wait. Wendy? Wendy Havoc? What are you doing here?" Riza spoke up.

"You know her?" Roy asked Hawkeye.

"Yes. Since you were busy at the time, you made me deliver the paper with her title on it to her once she passed the state alchemist exam recently. Remember? The Sapphire Alchemist?"

"Ahh, yes. Now I remember. Sapphire. She's around the same age as the Elric brothers, am I correct?"

"Correct, sir. She's fourteen, like Edward."

"Hmm. That's nice. Seems like they are getting along just fine."

"AHEM! WE'RE STILL HERE!" Ed shouted, startling everyone in the room, causing Wendy to drop him for real this time.

He groaned as he landed on the floor with a loud thud.

"Sorry Edward!" she said while covering her mouth with her hands.

Mustang sighed. "I'm not sure what you kids were up to, but, really, I don't want to know. Alphonse, take your idiot brother to a dorm tonight so he can get some rest. Room 47 should be fine. Miss. Havoc, you can probably find one down the hall from their's. You can sleep there tonight. Now, the three of you, GET OUT."

They sheepishly nodded, and this time Al scooped his brother up and they practically ran out the door. Wendy couldn't deny she was a _little _disappointed she couldn't carry him this time, but she had no idea in the slightest why she felt that way.

* * *

Roy inhaled, and then slowly exhaled after they left. He grabbed another form from Riza, and began furiously signing it.

He then started thinking about that girl. He hardly believed she was related to one of his closest comrades. Jean Havoc was a laid-back, strong, cigarette-smoking guy. She was…well, Roy didn't know what he thought about Wendy. He thought she was very pretty, but she looked completely different from Havoc. The only thing that was remotely similar between the two was their facial structure, which was narrow and oval-shaped. He had short, dirty blond hair. She had long, brownish, red hair. He had small, pale blue eyes. She had large, round, bright ones. Mustang gave up, because he was too tired to think about genes. So his mind leapt to something else. He wondered what she was doing holding Edward. Not to mention his automail was no where to be seen. She must have been carrying him because he couldn't walk.

Then panic crawled up the Colonel's spine as he thought something else. Did a homunculus fight him?

No, Mustang concluded. If Fullmetal had just gotten out of a serious fight like that, he would have said something. Roy sighed again, and then returned to his paperwork, leaving his thoughts to linger for tomorrow.

* * *

With the body of armor leading the way, they navigated their way through the building and finally came to the hall with room 47 down it. The door was already unlocked, so there was no need to get a key or break it open.

With Wendy trailing behind, they slipped into the room and Al laid his older brother on the soft, large, clean bed in the middle of the room.

He thanked him for carrying him, and Al said a welcome in return. Wendy didn't know what to say. She felt horrible for basically crippling Edward, so she decided to speak.

"Hey, listen guys..." she said while facing her head down. Ed sat up when he heard her, because her voice all of a sudden sounded soft, and vulnerable.

"I feel bad for what happened earlier. For breaking your automail, Ed, and for making you worry, Al. All I wanted to do was prove my alchemic skills. I really didn't mean for anyone to get hurt, although it was stupid of me not to expect it. I think we got off on the wrong foot. You two are very intelligent, skilled young alchemists, and I would like to get to know you better, and maybe even become friends. I hope what happened tonight doesn't make you think any less of me. I really am sorry, and I will help you get back on your feet again, Edward, no matter what it takes."

"Awe, it's okay, Wendy! We forgive you. We realize you were just trying to prove yourself. No harm done." Al said cheerily.

"'No harm done'?" Ed peered at his brother like he was insane.

"Al, this is just setting us back. It's going to be awhile before I can get fully- functioning automail again. We should be focusing on more important things right now, like getting our bodies back." He whispered angrily.

Wendy's eyes got moist when he said that. And both the brothers noticed it, too.

"Listen, Ed. I know how you feel." She softly spoke.

"HOW THE HELL COULD YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL!?" he burst, causing her to wince.

"BECAUSE I'M JUST LIKE YOU!" She screamed back, clenching her teeth as tears cascaded down her soft, light skin.

Suddenly, she slowly reached her left arm to the neck of her coat. She gently tugged at it, causing it to fall off of her shoulders, and softly drop to the ground.

At first, they weren't sure what she was trying to do. She was wearing the same blue tank top as before, and she seemed normal. Then, they looked to her right side, and they saw it.

Silver, glossy metal stretched from about an inch past her right shoulder and extended to her fingertips.

Her arm was automail.

The Elrics were speechless. They just stared at her, their eyes wide, and their mouths slightly agape.

"I didn't loose this arm because of some type of accident. It's gone because of the same reason yours is. It's no secret what I did. I attempted human transmutation. The biggest taboo among alchemists. The impossible deed. The ultimate sin. I tried bringing my mother back from the dead. My older brother tried helping me do it, and he ended up loosing his entire body, like Al. I wasn't skilled enough at the time to bond his soul to armor or anything like that, like you did. He's just gone. I can never see him again."

She lifted her head and looked Edward strait in the eye, her icy blue ones drilling into his soft, gold ones.

"So I suppose that means we are two of a kind, Edward Elric."

With that, she picked up her coat and walked out the room, closing the door behind her.


	5. That Night

She didn't want to go to sleep. She hated it. She didn't care if she grew permanent dark circles under her eyes. If it was humanly possible, Wendy wouldn't want to sleep ever again for the rest of her life. The reason she despised sleep was simple.

She had nightmares.

To be exact, she had the same exact nightmare every single night, for as long as she could remember.

When she fell asleep that night, it came as no surprise to her that it occurred again.

* * *

The full moon glowed brilliantly. It was a warm summer night, with a cool, light breeze. A boy about twelve years old held the hand of his younger sister, who was about four.

The boy had short, strait, neatly combed brown hair, and round, delicate blue eyes. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt, grey pants, and shiny black polished shoes.

The little girl had long, unruly strait brown hair pulled into a loose, messy braid, and very large blue eyes that looked like they were going to pop out of her head anytime now. She was wearing a short yellow dress with small periwinkle hawaiian flowers printed on it. Her knees were dirty and she had various scrapes on her arms and legs from when she was playing outside a few hours earlier. She had two small pink bows in her hair earlier, but she plucked them out and disposed of them long ago.

The boy, still holding on to her hand, started running toward a small hill, which had bright moon light pouring onto it.

The grass on the hill had dew sprinkled on each sharp, green blade. The moonlight hit the grass just right, making it shimmer lightly.

The girl giggled as she tried keeping up with her fast older brother. She gripped his hand harder as they galloped to their desired destination.

They finally made it to their spot, and he let go of her hand while he took some things out of his leather bag that was hanging casually on his left shoulder.

The brave four-year old ventured to the highest point of the hill. She peered over, just to find that the small hill cut off strait down many feet just a few inches away from where she was standing.

She shrieked, and ran over into her brother's warm, safe arms.

"It's okay, I promise. This will only take a little longer," he said, breaking free from their hug. Then he lowered his voice, and pulled his sister closer.

"Besides, we're going to see mom tonight."

The girl's eyes grew wide and she slowly gasped.

"R-really? Mommy? We are going to see mommy?" she asked.

He nodded and smiled softly.

"YAY! WE'RE GOING TO SEE MOMMY! YAY!" she cheered while skipping around.

The boy laughed at his sister's antics and stood up, then went to the top of the slanted hill to get on overview of where to place the circle.

"I think here is good…" he mumbled, and started dragging his foot, making imprints in the grass.

The girl had been squatting down on the ground at the base of the hill, observing him with awe-filling eyes.

He continued to drag his foot and scraped a large circle, with intricate designs inside. His eyes were focused and serious as he drew the last line.

After that, he scooped into his pocket and pulled out a small silver lighter, and a small jug filled with liquid. He opened the jug and splashed the circle, carefully. Then, he bent down and placed his thumb on the knob of the lighter, and it quickly flickered on.

The smile on the girl's face suddenly dropped as she saw her brother's worried, broken face being illuminated by the small bit of light being produced from the lighter.

"Brother…are you okay? You look sad. Mommy is still visiting us tonight, right?" she inquired.

Something sad readily flashed in his eyes for a moment before responding.

"I hope so, Wendy."

Cautiously, he put the heat near the soaked parts of the circle. A foul smell of burning grass filled their lungs.

He blew out the flames whenever they were threatening to burn outside of the circle.

"It probably wasn't the best idea to try to set wet grass on fire." He muttered under his breath.

After about an hour later, with Wendy still watching him, the boy finally was able to burn a transmutation circle into the hill.

He stood up and tried working the kinks out of his body from bending over for so long.

On a usual night, by this time Wendy would have been fast asleep by then. However, it wasn't a usual night. Her brother never took her out "exploring" this late at night before, so she was prepared to stay up as long as she could, as long as it meant she could watch her brother perform alchemy. It was her favorite thing to do, and he had even taught her the basics of it. Well, at least as many basics that could be understood by a four-year-old.

He turned toward her and gestured for her to stand next to him. She smiled and tumbled over to him.

"Do you want to help me pour the ingredients on the circle?" he asked her.

"Ingredients? Like for a cake?" Wendy asked.

He chuckled heartily. "No. Unfortunately, these ingredients aren't for a cake. They're for something better."

Her ears pricked up when she heard him mention something "better than cake".

He picked up his leather bag from earlier, and pulled out a few smaller bags, and handed two to Wendy. They were a bit heavy, but she didn't want to admit it in fear that her brother wouldn't let her help him anymore.

They poured the ingredients onto the very middle of the circle. Wendy bounced up and down excitedly, her bare feet crunching into the burnt plants.

"Don't ruin the circle. We need it to get Mom back. Come watch from outside of it." He said.

She blushed and mumbled an apology as she hurried away from the center.

The boy was kneeling a few feet away from the outer edge, so she planted herself next to him, scrambling to get into the same position.

"Lime, 1 and a half kilograms. Salt, 250 grams. Saltpeter, 100 grams. Sulfur, 80 grams. Iron, 5 grams. Silicon, 3 grams. Phosphorus, 800 grams. Carbon, 20 kilograms. Fluorine, 7 and a half grams. Ammonia, 4 liters. And, finally, water, 35 liters." He said while slowly pouring in the liquid elements. "And a few others." He finished, referring to the small bits of other things.

"Wait…" he stopped and furrowed his brows. "What is missing?"

Not able to answer his question, Wendy just looked at him, curiously.

"Ah, yes. Now I remember." He spoke, while looking around him for something. He crawled over to his bag and pulled out a pocket knife.

"Okay, Wendy. For Mommy to come back, we are both going to have to get a boo-boo. That's how alchemy works. Do you understand?" he whispered nonchalantly.

She hesitantly nodded. He flipped open his knife and pointed his index finger, and promptly swiped the blade across it, then holding his finger over the circle, watched as the deep crimson liquid flowed out.

Wendy whined when she saw this, and was rethinking agreeing to anything.

Without warning, he grabbed her arm softly, took her finger, and slit it.

"Eek!" she squealed as a small pain spread across her fingertip.

He sighed, and then smiled "Well, it's all or nothing now, I suppose. Are you ready now, Wendy?" he turned to her.

"Yes, John."

He took a deep breath, and put his hands onto the circle, Wendy doing the same.

"Here we come, Mom." He murmured.

The ground before them abruptly flashed a blinding blue light. Their hair was blown back, as they braced themselves for what was about to happen.

They couldn't help but beam as they felt an energy tingle underneath them.

Their hearts were racing against their chests, and their bodies shook.

Then, all at once a large, grey eye appeared in the middle, along with hundreds of small, thin black eerie arms, wiggling and popping out.

A hand rushed at them. Instinct pushed John to jump in front of his younger sibling before it could grab her.

The arm shot at him, and painfully wrapped itself around his torso.

"AHHH!" he cried, getting dragged into the circle.

"BROTHER! JOHN! AHH!" she howled.

With him out of the way, the arms flew at Wendy, grabbing just her arm, pulling her in as well.

Even in the spur of the moment, John knew there was nothing he could do to help her now. So his eyes filled with tears. Something that hadn't happened since his Mother died.

After that, things got blurry. All he heard was the high-pitched screech coming from his sister.

All she heard was the hopeless wails coming from her brother.

Then everything was silent.

All the girl saw was white. Pure white. Absolutely clean, true white.

Then she heard a voice.

But it wasn't John's.

It was deep, yet feminine.

It was calming, yet vicious and wicked.

She turned around, and saw a completely white humanoid figure, barely outlined with black. And it was grinning.

"Hello Wendy." it spoke, sending a chill up her spine, making her hair stand on edge.

"W-where's my brother?" she finally managed to squeak out.

It simply grinned wider, and pointed indifferently towards a large gate, appearing behind her, out of no where.

Without any doubt, she raced over to the gate, and frantically searched for a crack, in which she can open it.

She was breathing heavily, and her hair stuck to her sweaty temples as she jumped around looking for something, anything to help her get through that gate.

"NYAAAA!" She screamed. She then resorted to banging on the door, absolutely desperate.

"OPEN! OPEN NOW! OPEN! PLEASE!" she wailed, feeling as if her lungs were about to burst.

Wendy spun around towards the figure, almost falling over. "It's not opening! Please help me open the door! Please! I'm begging you!"

It's grin faltered, and its mouth pulled into a thin line.

"Are you sure you want to go in there? You may never be able to get out." He said tenuously.

"YES! Let me in! I need to find him! Open up the door right now, you big dummy!" she shouted.

It smirked.

"Are you sure you want to talk to me that way, Wendy Havoc? Do you even know who I am?" it asked.

She stood there, silently. The only sound she heard was the loud, frenzied beating of her heart.

"Of course you don't know who I am, so I will tell you."

"I am what you might call 'God'".

"Or 'The World'".

"Or 'The Universe".

"Or 'All'".

"Or 'One'".

"But, also, Wendy Havoc, I am also 'You'".

It mischievously smiled, then waved its hand.

"Goodbye, Wendy. I will see you when you come back." It concluded.

She heard the large doors behind her creak open, but she didn't even bother to turn around to look, she was just too scared.

She was about to speak, but a familiar feeling of absolute cold bitterness wrapped around her body.

More blurriness. She couldn't remember what happened in between then.

She opened her eyes. The arms were still wrapped around her. She tried with all of her might, all of her strength, to scream, or even move.

However, it seemed as if her body had just completely shut down.

All she could comprehend at the time was pictures. Hundreds, thousands, millions of pictures, flashing in front of her eyes.

Pictures of her brother, some of her house, some of her bedroom, some of herself, and even some of her mother.

And some of even…her father?

It started out slow, and calm. Like she was floating in space, watching a slideshow of photos.

Soon the pace picked up. Her heart started to beat faster, the arms pulled her quicker, and sweat ran down her entire body rapidly.

Then, the information came. Numbers, letters, words, equations, and more.

All kinds of information and data felt like it was literally pouring into her head, and it formed an excruciatingly painful migraine at the base of her skull.

Eventually, for some reason, her body started working again. Or so it seemed.

She let out a terrifying scream as the migraine continued to grow more agonizing.

More numbers, letters, equations, pictures, it just seemed like everything in the world was flowing into her mind.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" she screamed as loud and as high as her body would let her. The pain was too much. She couldn't take it.

At that moment, Wendy would have rather been dead then to continue feeling what she did…

Then it was calm. And the pain in her head had gone away. She was free. Free from the intense suffering she had to go through a few seconds earlier.

And she rejoiced.

But there was instantly a different kind of pain pulsing through her nerves this time. It was mainly around her right shoulder, and it extended into part of her chest. It was a pain that felt like something was supposed to be there, but it wasn't. It was an odd sensation she had never felt before.

"I hope you enjoyed what you saw in there. Only a few people in existence have experienced what you just had. Of course, it came at a hefty price, though. Cherish the gift I have given you." The same voice as earlier said.

She still couldn't see anything. She thought she had her eyes closed, but she couldn't tell. She couldn't see it, but she could hear it's words echoing in her head.

"Goodbye for real now, child. I hope you have learned your lesson. If you didn't, the price you and your brother paid would have been in vain. So long, Wendy." It said.

She felt the cool breeze against her skin. The dry, crunchy grass beneath her body. And the blood running down her right side.

The girl woke up, only to be greeted by a pain so arduous, she felt dizzy, like she was going to pass out.

She sat up with a groan, and looked to where the pain was centered.

Her arm was no where to be seen.

She used all of her strength to get up, and she finally did. Her hair blew softly against her face because of the bitter night time wind, and Goosebumps formed all over her body.

Wendy's body shook violently from the realization that he wasn't there.

"John! Brother! Where are you!? JOHN! BROTHER!"

* * *

"BROTHER! COME BACK!" she screamed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jean exclaimed, "Calm down! It's just me, Jean. Everything's okay. I think you just had a bad dream."

"J-Jean?" Wendy spoke, her shaky words slightly muffled because her face still being buried in her pillow.

"Yes," he whispered, "It's me. Sorry if I woke you. I was walking down the halls and I heard screaming. I found you in here and I was worried. My plan was to visit you later today, but I couldn't just leave you here like this."

There were light shuffling sounds as she moved around underneath her bedding. She finally turned onto her back and her large, blue eyes flittered open.

When her eye sight adjusted, she saw her cousin for the very first time for a long while.

He had dirty blond, spiky, soft hair. His light blue eyes glimmered as he smiled lovingly at her.

The sour aroma of smoke crept up her nose. It was radiating from the cigarette that was placed inadvertently between his right index and middle fingers.

Jean Havoc, her cousin.

Wendy tried to return a smile, but it ended up coming out weak, because she still hadn't yet shaken the feeling she had from the flashback she just had.

"Are you alright? You seemed pretty terrified when you woke up." He pointed out gently.

"Yeah… I'm fine. I just had a nightmare, that's all." She replied.

"Whatever you say, cousin. You should take a shower and get dressed soon. I'll buy some breakfast and we can eat it together. Sound good?" he asked.

"Mmhm. That sounds nice."

"Good. Well, I'll go get the food now, and bring it back here. Be ready for me."

After that, he slowly walked out the door, taking his smoky fragrance with him.

Before closing the door, he called over his shoulder, "I'm worried about you Wendy. Remember that whenever you need any help, or just need someone to talk to, I'm here. There's no need for us to be strangers. I know we had some drama in the past, but maybe we can put that behind us. We're family. And I love you, even if you don't love me. Anyways, see you soon, cousin."

She sat up in her bed after he left and rubbed her eyes. She lifted up her right arm and inspected her reflection in her automail. Her eyes were puffy and red, and her face was stained with dry tears. She lowered her arm and turned around, and felt her pillow, which was damp and cold. Wendy just accepted it. It definitely wasn't the first time she woke up in tears after having that same nightmare. She did it almost every night now, so it was nothing new.

She sighed, and pulled herself out of bed, ready for the day.


	6. I'll Protect You

**Hello readers~! At the beginning of this chapter I included a little poem that I found that I felt described my main character, Wendy, perfectly. I didn't write it, the author's name is Sara Holbrook, and the title of the poem is "Being Tough". I do not own the poem in anyway. Enjoy!**

* * *

_ She won't say what she wants_

_ She's not the wanting kind._

_ She won't acknowledge need,_

_ Or speak what's on her mind._

_ She says she can't feel hurt,_

_ She won't play show and tell._

_ She talks of being tough,_

_ But her eyes say something else._

* * *

She traveled over to the adjoining bathroom in her room. She had not been in it yet, because last night after she left the Elrics' room she went strait to her bed and fell asleep in her normal clothes.

That also reminded her that she needed to buy more clothes.

The only outfit she had since she moved to Central was the same one she defeated Edward in.

She took a deep breath then exhaled as she turned the shiny golden brass knob to the bathroom.

When she stepped in, it was just like any normal bathroom. When you walked in, to your right there was a large mirror. Underneath the mirror was a round sink. If you kept walking there was a toilet and a bathtub. Nothing special.

She turned right and gazed into the mirror.

Her face was blotchy and discolored. Her eyes were still red and swollen. Her hair was sticking out every which way. She was annoyed about how much of an effect that nightmare had on her every night. It wasn't just that she tossed and turned and had bed-head hair. It was more that that.

Experiencing that flashback every single night not only took an emotional toll on her, but physical as well. She became more violent and angry than she was before. She became sick more often. She trusted people less and less, and she almost never ate breakfast right after waking up, because whenever she did she would just throw it up. She had tried to see therapists about it, but they all said she was just making this stuff up in her head, and that it was impossible to have the _same exact_ dream every single night for about ten years.

But Wendy knew that's what was happening to her.

And she was terrified.

She peeled off her sweaty, dirty clothes and reached over into the tub and turned the dial to as warm as the water could go. Having painfully hot baths was something she did frequently to calm herself down.

Once the tub was as full as she preferred it to be, she slipped into the scorching water, wincing slightly at how it burned her skin. She finally got all the way in, her whole body was submerged except for her neck up.

She just laid there, letting her icy worries melt away into the blistering hot bath water.

Wendy stayed there, leaning her head against the wall, and closed her eyes.

_Have I made you proud, brother? Have I become who you wanted me to be? What about you, Aunt Rhaven? Am I good enough for you now? _

Tears coursed out of her eyes involuntarily. Then, she heard a light knock at the door.

"Wendy…" someone spoke softly through the front door to her room.

"Are you there, Wendy? Havoc told me a little bit ago that you just woke up. Could I talk to you?" it said.

She could recognize that voice anywhere.

It was Edward.

"Hello? Are you there?" There was more knocking.

"It's me, Ed. I'm coming in." he said.

Wendy heard the door open and someone shuffle in, followed by a loud clanking noise, which was surely Alphonse.

She sunk down more into the water, praying that they would just leave, and not open the bathroom door.

"I don't think she's here, Brother. There's no one on the bed so she did wake up, but she could have left. Maybe we should go to the Colonel's office. That's the only place I can imagine her being right now." Al said.

"Are you sure she isn't here? The door was unlocked. What an idiot." Ed mumbled.

She growled quietly, not loud enough for them to hear.

"You're probably right. Let's go to Mustang's office." Edward finally said.

"Okay, Brother."

Wendy heard them walk out of the room, and abruptly shut the door.

_How can Ed walk? Did he get new automail already? _She wondered.

She waited a few seconds in silence; and the only sound she heard was the slow swishing of the bath water, back and forth.

She finally got up and stepped out of the bath, then bending over to pull the plug to drain the water. When the drain was making odd _slurp _noises, she walked over to the side wall and pulled on a complementary white cotton robe. _Wow, this room makes me feel like I'm in a hotel._

Wendy dried and brushed out her hair, brushed her teeth, and washed her face. Since she had gotten use to the hot water, she was now freezing, and she had goose bumps on her arms and legs.

While she was continuing to brush out her hair, she heard yet another knock at the door. Since she was now looking a bit more decent, she strolled out of the bathroom and into the main room and went to the door, still with her brush in her hand.

"Eh! Cousin Jean here with some delicious food! May I come in?" Jean called.

Wendy couldn't help but smile. She did have some anger against him from a long time ago, but she had to admit he was a naturally nice, funny guy. Maybe they _could _get along.

She opened the door and was instantly hit with the appetizing aroma of breakfast food coming from a large, white paper take- out bag in his arms. He grinned, then stepped in and placed the bag on her bed.

"That smells great! What did you get?" Wendy asked, not even bothering to say hello. The smell was certainly appealing.

"Some breakfast pita pocket sandwiches. They're egg and cheese folded into a warm pita pocket bread. I've never had them before, but they were cheap and sounded great." Jean told her.

She smiled in return and sat on the bed and began taking things out of the bag, eager to dig in. In the corner of her eye, she saw her cousin smiling warmly, his eyes fixed on her.

"Wow, Wendy. Colonel Mustang _told _me you were pretty, but I forgot that you were _this _pretty. No wonder you're related to me." He boasted, and then smirked.

She blushed slightly. "The Colonel said that?" she asked, handing a sandwich to him.

"Yup," he replied, unwrapping his food, "His exact words were 'You'd better watch that cousin of yours, Havoc. She's so pretty that I might decide to take her from you.' Then I replied with, 'Don't count on it, Colonel. She wouldn't fall for an old fart like you.'" He finished, taking a bite.

Wendy giggled, unwrapping her food as well, "I didn't know he was such a ladies man. Plus, I thought he had something going on with that partner of his. Umm…I think her name was Riza?"

Jean laughed. "Everyone thinks that. They are so oblivious to their feelings toward each other, aren't they?"

They both laughed and agreed. Then they ate their food in silence for a little longer. He was about to speak up, until Wendy said something first.

"Oh, I forgot to dry my auto mail after getting out of the bath tub. Do you mind if I do that while you eat?"

"Sure," he replied, his mouth full, "Go ahead."

She got up and walked over to her night stand which had small folded towels. She picked one up and walked back over to sit next to him on her bed. After sitting down, she pulled up her right sleeve and started to gently dry off her wet auto mail, working the towel into all of the intricate places on her arm.

He sat there watching her, in awe. "I forget sometimes that you have automail, like Ed. I can't imagine what it's like. Is it weird to not have your real arm? Is it hard to do things sometimes?"

"Well, yes and no. When I first got my automail, I felt a bit…off whenever I walked. It seemed like my entire body- weight ratio had been altered, and I even fell down when walking because of the weight sometimes. Now, it just feels like second nature. Also, I suppose it's hard to do things sometimes. I avoid cooking because my arm gets warm and it burns my shoulder. Swimming is hard, too. Besides that, I have trained myself to do the same things you can, with ease."

"That's amazing. I would think that having automail would help a lot during fighting, considering you can just punch your opponent, and not even get hurt at all. Actually, that seems like a really good idea. I'm surprised people haven't tried getting automail on purpose."

"Automail may _seem_ great and all, but the negatives probably cancel out the positives. During rainy, stormy weather, for some reason, people with automail go through a lot of pain. Their stump, which is the part of their limb they still have left, starts aching really badly. I've gone through it, and it's awful. And besides, automail might be sort of helpful in battle, but I have no need for that right now. I can just use my alchemy when fighting someone. My master didn't teach me hand-to-hand combat, so I am not very good at fighting without using alchemy."

"Your master? Oh, that's right. You trained in Xing, the nearby country, for a year learning alchemy before you came back to Amestris to try to become a State Alchemist. You left right after you…" Havoc trailed off. He didn't want to say it out loud.

"No, it's fine," Wendy said, pain and bad memories flashing in her eyes, despite her smile, "I actually stayed in Xing for two years. After I ran away from living with my Aunt when I was twelve, my master, a half Xingese man, was traveling through Amestris at the time. I was starving, and he found me, and offered to take me back to Xing and take care of me. Since I was on the brink of death, I couldn't refuse. So he took me to Xing and trained me in alchemy. It was hard, and very confusing, but it paid off. Xing was great. A very nice country. My master was about the only person living there that knew how to do alchemy. In Xing, they have a medical-oriented thing similar to alchemy, called alchehestry. Since he grew up in Amestris, he learned alchemy, not alchehestry."

"You started to live with your Aunt after…_that_ happened…right?" Havoc asked.

"It's not a secret. You can say it. After the failed human transmutation when I was four, the only family I had that was willing to take me in was my Aunt Rhaven. Since you're here, I might as well tell you about some things." Wendy said, taking a deep breath, and then continuing.

"She was horrible to me. She hated my guts because she blamed me for everything. She really liked my brother, and so she blamed me for his death. She was an evil woman. My Aunt Rhaven never once told me she loved me, or showed any affection towards me at all." Wendy frowned, and her eyes got moist, "When I was about seven years old, she started hurting me. At first, she tried just hitting me. Then, she decided she wasn't satisfied with that. So, one time when she was reading a book, she found something she wanted to try on me. It may sound weird, but whenever she got angry at me, or anyone, she would lay me on my stomach on a table in our living room, take out a knife, and…" Wendy's eyes filled with tears, and she started rubbing her arms with her hands. She was shaking. Fear welled up inside of her.

"Then she would lift up my shirt and cut my back with her knife. Sometimes, they would just be scratches. Sometimes they would be deep, wide cuts. She did this until I ran away when I was twelve. I didn't leave before then because I was terrified. I was absolutely afraid that if I tried to run away, that she would find me, and hurt me. Or even kill me. When I had ran away to live on the streets and my master found me, I told him everything and he called the police. After that, I'm not sure what happened to her. I don't know whether or not she is in jail, or if she is even alive. What she did to me still haunts me to this day. And I still have the scars on my back." She shakily let out the last words. Then, Wendy turned her back to Jean and pulled down her robe, revealing her bare back.

He let out a loud gasp, and his eyes started to fill up with tears when he saw it.

Twenty, maybe thirty, large, wide, red scars stretched across her back. Jean could tell which ones had been deep cuts, and which ones were small. It was torture what Wendy's Aunt had done to her all of those years.

After further examination, Jean looked closer at his cousin's back. He didn't know how he could have missed it before. Right in the middle of her back, Wendy had scars that formed strait lines. And not just lines, they were letters. The letters were J-O-H-N.

Her brother's name was carved into the middle on her back.

"That's the first time she cut me. She told me that by cutting my brother's name into my back that I would forever have a reminder of what I did to him. That I would forever remember my sin." She covered up her back again and turned towards Jean.

"DAMN IT! HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOURSELF WENDY? YOU WERE ONLY FOUR YEARS OLD WHEN YOUR BROTHER DIED. HE PREFORMED THE TRANSMUTATION, NOT YOU. IT WASN'T YOUR DAMN FAULT. YOU WERE FOUR YEARS OLD. IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT!" screamed Havoc.

Then he burst into tears, burying his face into his hands.

* * *

"Why didn't you tell me?" he whispered, after pulling himself together. "Why? I know I told you that I couldn't take care of you after your brother died, and you hated me for all of your childhood. But…why? Why didn't you tell me that this was happening to you? I would have changed my mind and taken care of you. You need to depend on other people for once, Wendy. You can't do everything by yourself. You can't just carry that weight on your own shoulders. You need someone. You need someone to help you. Someone to carry that weight with you." Tears continued to slide down his face.

When Wendy had heard him say that she needed "someone to carry that weight with you", her mind instantly flashed a picture of Edward.

_What? _Wendy thought, _Why am I thinking about Ed? I still barely know him. He doesn't need to know about my past troubles. _

"Please. I'm begging you. Open up to people a little more. Let people help you. Appreciate human warmth. Make some friends. They will help you deal with your pain. However, only one, special person will carry your burden with you. You'll have to find that person someday. Thank you for telling me all of this, Wendy. My duty starts soon, so I have to leave now. Talk to me whenever. Talk to the Elric brothers. They went through something similar to you. Open up to them a little, too. Anyways, goodbye, Wendy. I love you. See you soon" Jean said, while getting up. He then slowly walked out the door, looking back at his scared, broken cousin.

"I love you, too." She called out to him, and he smiled.

When he left, he promised himself something in his head. He was going to protect that girl the best he could. He was going to keep her happy, even if it meant sacrificing his own happiness. She needed him now, more than ever. He decided was going to help her in any way he possibly could from now on.

_I promise, Wendy. Don't worry. You are safe now. I won't let anyone hurt you. I'll protect you. _He thought.


	7. To Resembool

**Hello everyone. ^_^ So, chapter 7 is now up! Oh my gosh, you can't imagine how much fun it was to write this. I've been so excited about posting this chapter, so I hope you like it. Also, it's my longest chapter so far! Holler at my girls, ms. cheerful and Echo Elric, for just being just plain awesome reviewers and readers. Look forward to some Edward adorableness in this chapter~! :D Reviews are appreciated. Thanks!**

* * *

"Damn it. I need to stop crying so much. It's going to age me before my time." Wendy said aloud.

She couldn't eat anymore of her sandwich, for obvious reasons of her being so upset. So she grabbed the paper bag and set it on her nightstand. She decided she was going to head to the Colonel's office, and ask him if he needed any missions done today.

Then Wendy looked down at her attire.

She was still wearing her bathrobe.

_What am I supposed to wear? My clothes are super dirty. I don't have anything else. _

She pulled on her shoes, tightened her robe, and headed out the door, down the hall.

When she was in front of Edward's door, she walked closer and sheepishly knocked on the door.

No answer.

She knocked again.

No answer.

She cursed under her breath and as she was about to walk away, she heard loud footsteps inside of their room.

"Coming! Just a second!" a friendly voice called.

Wendy froze and then started walking back to the door.

The door swung open and Alphonse poked his head out.

"Oh, hey Wendy! Brother and I were looking for you earlier. Are you alright? Where have you been?" Al chirped.

"Sorry about that. I heard you guys come into my room earlier, but I was in the bath. And, yeah, I'm alright. Is Ed here? I need to ask him for a favor." she replied.

Al opened the door wider, and gestured for her to come in. "Ed went to check out some books from the library. He'll be back soon."

"Library? I didn't know that they had a library here. Is it big? Does it have a lot of books?" Wendy asked while stepping in.

"Sort of. Well, it's not just one library. Central has many libraries that are separated into different branches. The first branch was burned down recently, as you may know. Ed and I needed some things from there, but since everything was destroyed, we had to ask someone for help. We ended up with the material needed, but it's in a very hard code that we've been trying to crack," Al then lowered his voice, "It's notes on the Philosopher's Stone, written by a man named Dr. Marcoh. Brother and I think that the answer on how to make a stone is written somewhere in there. If it is, it would be a GREAT help for us on our goal to get our bodies back."

Her eyes widened.

"I've heard of that! It's a mythical stone that can magnify an alchemist's abilities greatly. I have alchemy gloves that do something similar to that that I use. However, they aren't even _close _to the power the stone is rumored to have. That would get your guys' original bodies back for sure. If you need any help trying to decode those notes, I would be happy to. I'm pretty smart, even if it doesn't look like it." She said with a smile.

Al laughed. "We need all of the help we can get, so I will ask Ed when he gets back. Wait, what was the favor you wanted to ask him?"

Wendy's face burned red slightly. She smiled and looked down at her feet, her hair covering her eyes.

"Well, this might sound sort of weird, but I need clothes. Everything I have is extremely dirty, and I need something to wear. Could I borrow something from Ed?"

Al stood in silence before answering.

"Umm, well, he doesn't really have any extra clothes besides what he is wearing right now. So, you might have to ask someone else. Sorry."

"No, it's fine. I can probably ask Jean if he has anything small enough for me. Thank you anyways."

"Wait! Maybe I can find something in his suitcase. There's possibly something you can wear in there." With that, Alphonse scanned the room for Ed's suitcase and then picked it up and dug through it.

"Yup. Here you go. It might be a little big, but I think it's good enough until yours get cleaned. You can change in the bathroom." He said while handing her the clothes.

"Thanks, Alphonse." She smiled and gazed at him happily before turning around to head toward the bathroom.

"Wendy!" Al called, and she stopped.

"Yes?"

"If Brother and I ever get a Philosopher's Stone, we will try get your arm back, too. We want you to be happy. Ed may seem like he hates you, but really, even though he's only known you for a little over a day now, I can still tell he really cares about you."

"Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me." She said, and she smiled sincerely.

When she was in the bathroom, she examined the clothes Al gave her. It was a black tank top and black formal pants. She untied her robe and started thinking about what Al had just said.

'If Brother and I ever get a Philosopher's Stone, we will try get your arm back, too.'

Those words played in her mind over and over again.

_What did Al really mean by that? Was he basically saying that after all the stuff they have been through so far, and everything they will have to go through, that they would be fighting not only for themselves… but for me too?_

Wendy ran her hand through her bangs, and tried to ignore these thoughts.

Then those other words came to her again, too.

'Ed may seem like he hates you, but really, even though he has only know you for a little over a day now, I can still tell that he really likes you.'

While slipping on the clothes, her mind was doing somersaults trying to comprehend his words, like it was a secret code or something.

Just thinking about Ed 'really liking her' sent warm tingles throughout her body.

_What the heck? That was weird. Is it hot in here or something? Why does my mind keep jumping back to Edward randomly? Why does my body shake, and feel weird whenever I think about him? These things have never happened to me before…_

_Have I lost my mind? Have I finally gone insane? _

_ Am I sick?_

Her thoughts were interrupted by the door into the main room creaking open.

"Hey, Al. I found a few things at the library that might help us crack the code. Wait… why is my suitcase open? Did you take out some of my extra clothes?" Ed said.

Just on time, Wendy nudged open the bathroom door and stared at Ed, watching as his face turned red.

He looked the same as before, just his body was limp, and his left arm was supported by a large crutch, his right leg shook unsteadily under his own weight. It made her feel guilty all over again just looking at him.

"W-why is _she _here?" he said putting an emphasis on _she_, "AND WHY IS SHE WEARING MY CLOTHES!?"

"Calm down, Brother! She just needed something to borrow until her clothes are clean."

Ed's red face grew darker in embarrassment and anger. "First she steals my arm and leg, and then she steals my clothes! What is she going to take from me next? My dignity?"

"And don't forget, Ed. We are going to have to go back to Resembool so Winry can make you new automail." Al reminded him.

An unreadable look of fear spread across Edward's face. He started shaking and almost fell over.

"I forgot about that. Oh gosh, Winry is going to KILL me when she sees that my automail was completely mutilated."

Al even started shaking too.

"Looks like this is the end, Ed. You and I both will never see the light of day again when she sees what happened to your arm and leg." Al whispered shakily.

Wendy was confused. Why were they getting so scared of some girl?

"Who's Winry?" she asked.

"AHH!" Ed cried out at the mention of her name, then his right leg gave out and he fell to the floor, onto his face.

"Winry is a childhood friend of ours. She is an automail mechanic. She's the one who made Ed's arm and leg. Let's just say that whenever my Brother breaks or damages his automail in any way, she gets a little…furious." Al explained.

"Furious? That's an understatement! She gets CRAZY when I don't take care of my automail." Ed said, weakly lifting his head from the ground.

"She's an automail mechanic, huh? Do you think she could take a look at my arm? I think it needs a bit of a tune up itself." Wendy said, putting her arm in front of her so the brothers could see.

It didn't take a mechanical genius to see that her arm was in desperate need of fixing. Just by looking at it you could tell that it wasn't made by just one person, it was the work of many different automail engineers. Some parts looked like they belonged on a simple, weak piece. Some looked like they belonged on something more complex. Not to mention that it looked like it hadn't been oiled for years, and some parts were rusting.

"That is the worst automail I have ever seen! Who built it?" shouted Alphonse in disbelief.

"Well... I don't really remember who built it. I don't think it was just one person. I believe that one person worked on the upper half and one on the bottom. Over the years I have had it repaired only a couple of times, by different people each time."

"I'm no expert, but I think that you need some major repairs. Maybe even a whole new arm. You should come with us, to Resembool. It's where we grew up. It's where Winry lives." Al said.

"NO WAY! SHE IS _NOT _COMING WITH US! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF HER HERE ALREADY. Besides, when Winry sees _that _automail, she'll kill Wendy, too!" Ed spoke, struggling to get back on his feet.

"HEY! Are you insulting my automail? I think its fine just the way it is. It just needs a few repairs, that's all." Wendy argued.

"HA! Just look at that thing! It looks like a piece of scrap of metal you can find in a junk yard!" Ed returned, finally standing back up.

"How dare you! _You're _automail was the scrap metal! That's why I was able to destroy it easily! My arm was undamaged after the battle!"

"That's only because you had the upper hand! It was raining outside, so you were able to use your water alchemy. Also, you had the element of surprise!"

"Pfft. Yeah right. You'll just never admit that I'm stronger than you, Fullmetal Shortie."

"DON'T CALL ME SHORTIE!"

Al stood back, watching them yell. He couldn't help but notice that their faces were only a few inches away from each other while they were arguing. Al laughed at the two of them. _This could be the beginnings of love, couldn't it? _He wondered. _But Brother is always working so hard all of the time to try to get our bodies back that he would never stop to realize something like that. They may act angry at each other now, but I am almost completely sure that they will develop feelings for each other some day. I just know it. But, for now, they're going to need a little help getting started. _

While they were still screaming their heads off about height differences and automail quality, Al "casually" strolled over behind Ed and "accidentally" pushed him forward. Ed landed on the ground painfully, Wendy underneath him.

"What was that for, Pipsqueak? You can't stand losing an argument so much that you tackled me?" Wendy growled.

"It wasn't me, you idiot! Al pushed me forward! AND DON'T CALL ME PIPSQUEAK!"

"I'm sorry, Brother! It was on accident, I swear!" Al insisted.

"Whatever. Just get off of me." Wendy said, looking away, blushing.

Alphonse helped his brother and then Wendy off of the floor and then said, "Ed, I think you should call Winry to tell her we are coming. I'll buy three train tickets."

"Three? I told you, Wendy isn't coming! Buy two tickets!" Ed said.

"Brother. Wendy is coming whether you like it or not. We'll BOTH fight you if you refuse again. Let me remind you that you haven't won a battle against me yet. You lost against Wendy, too."

Edward clenched his teeth and put his hand into a fist. "Fine. She can only come if she keeps that huge mouth of hers shut."

Wendy cheered in her head. _I might actually enjoy this._

"Alright, then it's settled. She's going with us to Resembool. I'll go buy the tickets now. Wendy, you go with Ed so he can call Winry." Al spoke.

Edward was about to protest, but his brother gave him a death glare so he closed his mouth.

So, Al was off to buy train tickets, and Ed led Wendy through the Capital building to the nearest phone.

After walking in silence for awhile, she said something.

"Hey, Ed? Can I ask you something?" she asked softly.

"Sure." He grumbled, refusing to look at her.

"I heard you say you wanted to talk to me this morning, when you came into my room. What did you want to say?"

He didn't answer for a long time. Then he finally did.

"What you told me and Al last night…it made us worry. I went through the same thing as you, except I had my younger brother to lean on afterwards. I had someone to support me. But you…don't. You have no one to help you deal with the pain. I can't imagine what that's like. We both made a mistake that we can never take back. So," Ed whispered, his voice becoming fragile, and honest. Before he said anymore, he stopped walking, turned to Wendy, and put his hand gently on her arm.

"If you need someone to lean on, or someone to help you, I-"

"HELLO, EDWARD ELRIC!" Boomed a large man who jumped in front of them. He was an extremely tall, broad man, with a completely bald head, with the exception of a small tuft of platinum blond hair jutting out. He had narrow, small blue eyes, which were sparkling with joy.

"IT'S NICE RUNNING INTO YOU TODAY, FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST! AND WHO IS THIS BEAUTIFUL YOUNG LADY YOU HAVE NEXT TO YOU? SHE IS ADORABLE!"

"Hello, Major Armstrong. If you don't mind, I have things I need to do, so…" Ed trailed off. He seemed completely calm and unaffected from the loud shouting of this giant man standing before them.

Wendy, however, was completely shocked and quite scared of him.

"You never answered my question. Who is this?" he asked, bending down and looking at her.

She was still in shock, so she stood there silently, slightly sweating. Ed decided to speak up for her.

Ed introduced Wendy and the Major and him talked for a few minutes longer, before he said good bye and left.

They continued walking and Wendy started talking again.

"Soo…what were you saying before, Ed?"

"Huh?" he asked looking towards her as they walked, then looking forward again. "Oh, uh, never mind. Hey, I think a telephone is right around the corner here."

She sighed and crossed her arms. She really wished that that man hadn't interrupted what he was about to say. It sounded like something important. His tone of voice a minute ago was sweet, smooth, and soft. It didn't sound at all like it was coming from the same guy that was screaming at the top of his lungs at her earlier.

They then rounded the corner and walked to the phone. Ed carefully dialed the numbers.

After about 10 seconds or so, Winry picked up.

"Hello! Rockbell automail service. Winry speaking!" She happily spoke into the phone.

"Uh, hey Winry. It's Ed."

"ED? Wow, why are you calling? Wait, is something wrong? DID YOU BREAK YOUR AUTOMAIL?"

"No. It's not broken. It's just…" Ed started shaking, almost dropping the phone, "It's sort of…gone."

"GONE!? WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR PRECIOUS HAND-CRAFTED AUTOMAIL, YOU MORON!?"

Wendy heard Winry screaming out of the phone and observed Ed apologize and explain things. Their call lasted about five minutes until he finally said his good bye.

The two alchemists headed back to the room, and Wendy helped Ed pack his automail parts that Al collected into his suitcase. She also stopped by her room to grab a few things. She carried the case and they slowly made their way to the train station, when they saw Alphonse, holding tickets in his hands.

"Hey, guys! You made it just in time. Our train is about to leave in a minute. I had someone tell Colonel Mustang where we were going. Are you ready to visit the town we grew up in, Wendy?" Al asked.

She grinned and nodded. "Yup. It'll be fun to visit your old friend from when you were kids. She sounds…interesting."

Al and Wendy chattered and laughed until the train came. The two of them walked towards it still laughing, ready to board. Ed slowly wobbled behind, trying to catch up with them, even though it was almost impossible, considering he was missing two limbs.

They soon boarded the train and made it to their seats. Edward and Wendy sat next to each other, him sitting on the outside and her sitting near the window. Al's armor took up the entire seat in front of them.

It was already late afternoon, and was starting to get dark outside. After the train started to get going, Ed ordered Wendy and himself some food, because neither of them had eaten since this morning.

They quickly ate and then she started getting sleepy because of how early her cousin woke her up. Wendy's body and mind were trained to refuse sleep as best as they could. But, eventually, she gave unwillingly gave in, and dozed off.

It was awkward sleeping in an up-right position, so while she was sleeping, her body shifted and her head landed on Ed's shoulder, and he tensed up.

"Hey get off of m-" Ed started saying, but Alphonse shushed him.

Edward was about to gently push her off of him, but Al shot him another death glare, so he let her be.

As expected, Ed finally fell asleep as well, his head then falling on top of her head, which was still rested on his shoulder.

Alphonse laughed at the two people unknowingly cuddling in their sleep.

Then he sighed happily.

"You really are an idiot, Brother."


	8. Dreams

**Pleeaasse review (it helps me a lot!) and favorite if you want. If you are enjoying this story so far in anyway, it would be very kind of you to leave a review, even if it is short. Well, anyways, here's the chapter. Enjoy~**

* * *

The train was about to pull up to Resembool station in about ten minutes. It was the next morning, and the warm, friendly morning sun was full and bright.

Al sighed as he looked at the window, taking in all of the familiar surroundings.

This was the place Alphonse and his older brother grew up in. This is where they were born. This is where they had their first experiences. This is where they learned alchemy.

This was their home.

* * *

Wendy's life changed that night.

After all of the pain and suffering she went through every time she went to sleep, she finally was free.

She didn't have a nightmare.

It may not seem like something that important, but to Wendy, it was. That nightmare she had every night made her life miserable. It opened up old wounds and brought back bad memories that she wished weren't real.

That night, she had a dream.

A beautiful, wistful, happy dream.

* * *

Everything was warm. All she felt was warmth. But it wasn't a hot kind of warmth that surrounded her skin. It was warmth that seemed to be coming from inside of her. It was emanating from her chest, and it spread throughout the nerves of her body.

And boy, did it feel nice.

Wendy woke up in a bed. A bed she didn't recognize. It was clean, and soft. It had light blue sheets, and a soft, fuzzy white blanket. She snuggled deeper into the bed, and turned onto her side. She smiled.

Then, suddenly, something wrapped around her waist.

However, even though her mind was telling her to be scared, and to attack whatever was touching her, her body stayed still, and relaxed. It was as if her mind and body were separate, and she couldn't do anything about it.

She soon realized that the things wrapped around her waist were arms. Strong, muscled, smooth arms. They definitely belonged to a man.

…But…who?

Still having her eyes closed, she turned over onto her other side, the arms letting go of her as she did. Her eyes slowly flittered open, catching sight of a man, lying before her.

The gentle sunlight pouring into the room caught his light, creamy skin, and strong features.

His hair was some-what long, and flowed past his shoulders. He was lying on his side as well, looking into her eyes, his mouth pulling into a warm smile.

His eyes were a shiny, deep gold color, with his hair matching.

Wendy smiled back at him, and he scooted closer to her, his bare chest exposed. He once again wrapped his arms around her into a hug, and then they soon broke the embrace.

"Wendy," he whispered tenderly.

"Yes?" she returned.

"I'm so lucky." He said.

"Why?" she laughed.

"Because. I have my brother, my friends, my family…I have everything I could ever ask for. And most importantly, I have _you_, all to myself."

She blushed, and Wendy pulled herself closer, and then he nuzzled his face into her neck.

"I love you, Wendy."

"I love you too, Ed."

* * *

Wendy woke up, still in the seat of the train. She received a sharp pain in her neck from it being crooked in the position she slept.

_Wait…did I sleep with my head on Ed's shoulder?_

Her eyes adjusted and she swiveled her head, observing her surroundings. The morning sun streamed in through the window. She smiled, and was about to lift her arms to stretch, but she felt something wrap around her waist.

She stiffened and slowly turned to her left, just to see Edward's happy smile as he snuggled closer to her, his eyes still closed. She heard a light sound, then realizing he was snoring.

_What is he doing? Wait… didn't that man in my dreams do the same thing?Who was the man in my dream? _

Then the realization hit her like a boulder.

She had been dreaming of Ed.

Wendy's face turned bright red.

"Ahhhhhhh!" she screamed, causing Edward to jolt awake and turn to her.

He slowly looked down at the position of his arms.

"Ahhhhhhh!" he shrieked.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Wendy screamed again.

"Ahhhhhhh!" they both screamed at the same time.

"What are you doing!?" she yelled.

"I- I didn't know I was doing that! I was asleep, I swear!" Ed shouted back.

Then, Al, still sitting in front of them, started howling with laughter.

"AHAHAHAHAHA!" Al was laughing so hard that he fell over, onto his side in his seat. If he had a body, he probably would have been crying at this point.

"H-hey! W-what's so funny!?" Ed asked, blushing hard.

"Because it's so obvious by now! I can't believe you two still don't realize it!" Al returned, finally calming down.

"Realize what?" they asked.

"Nevermind." Alphonse shook his head, "It looks like we are pulling up to the station now. Are you guys ready?"

Wendy nodded her head and smiled.

Ed just stayed silent and looked away.

As Al predicted, the train slowly pulled to a stop at the station. Immediately people started dashing to grab their luggage and get off of the train. Wendy took her alchemic gloves out of her pocket and slipped them on. Ed loosely shrugged on his red jacket and then the three began wandering off of the train. When they did, Alphonse led the way to Winry's house.

They took many twists and turns, and then, (with much arguing between the brothers on which way to go) they finally made it to the dirt path that leads strait to Winry's.

Wendy thought the town was beautiful. It was calm, small, and collected. It was mostly grassy plains, with a few buildings here and there. There was a lot of live stock, but mostly sheep. She thought that the air smelt amazing, too. The scent of rain and home cooking wafted in the air. She deeply breathed in the aroma, wanting to savor every minute of being there. _This would have been a good place to grow up in _she thought.

While they were still walking down the dirt path, Wendy wondered something. So she decided to ask it aloud.

"If Winry lives close to here, and you two lived near her when you were younger, where is your old house?" she asked.

She felt the atmosphere change drastically after she said that, and she started to get worried.

"Am I not allowed to ask that? Did something happen? Sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"No. It's alright. The answer to your question is that we don't have a house. The day I became a state alchemist, Al and I burned down our house here in Resembool, as a symbol and a motivator that meant we can never go back. It meant we have to keep moving forward to get our bodies back, and to make things right." Ed told her. Al nodded in agreement, but stayed silent.

"Wow. That's amazing. You burnt it down completely? What if one of you got hurt, or even killed? Or maybe something happened like the military shutting down, or all alchemy being banned in Amestris forever? Where would you go? What would you do then?" Wendy said.

"We couldn't consider anything like that at the time. We knew we needed to move forward, even if it meant something like that would happen. We had to at least try. And for us to try at our very best abilities, we needed to make sure we would never give up and go back to Resembool and have our bodies stay like this forever. We couldn't let that happen." Ed explained.

The rest of the way, they traveled in silence until a small house showed in the distance.

"Look! There it is! We made it!" cheered Alphonse. They all smiled.

When they ended up in front of the house, a dog's loud, alerted barking rang in their ears.

"Den!" Edward exclaimed as a large black and white adult dog with an automail front right leg came bounding out from behind the house.

It ran up to the Ed and leapt onto him excitedly, almost knocking him over in the process.

"Den! I'm missing an arm and a leg! You're going to make me fall over!" Ed scolded him, but he stayed oblivious and kept on jumping on him.

"What's wrong, Al? You look sad. Are you alright?" Wendy asked, noticing Alphonse looking quite gloomy.

"Yeah, I'm alright. It's just that…I guess I'm kinda sad that Den doesn't recognize me anymore because of my armor body." He replied.

She felt really bad for him, but didn't say anymore. She didn't want to say anything to make him worse.

Finally, the door to the house opened, revealing a tall blond female teenager. She was wearing a black tube top, baggy light violet- colored work pants, beige work gloves, and a red bandanna around her head.

"Ed! Al! You're here!" Winry happily shouted.

The brothers smiled and meandered over to her, Wendy shyly following behind.

"Hey! Who is she? How did you two idiots manage to convince a pretty, sweet girl like her to hang out with you guys?" Winry sneered, putting her fists on her hips.

While Ed and Winry argued, Wendy thought it was an appropriate time to introduce herself.

"Hello, Winry. My name is Wendy. Wendy Havoc. I'm a state alchemist and friend of Ed and Al. I came with them here so that you can take a look at my automail. Plus, I was sort of the one to destroy Ed's arm and leg, so I will pay all of his expenses."

Winry, excited on having so much automail to work on, gladly let the three of them inside and sat Ed and Wendy down on a couch.

She first examined Edward, pulling up his pant leg and arm sleeve. Once she saw the damage, she simply confirmed that he would need a whole new arm and leg made. Then she went over to Wendy, pulling up her sleeve, and almost fainted at the sight.

"Y-YOUR AUTOMAIL! IT'S HORRIBLE! IT'S BASICALLY FALLING APART! HOW COULD YOU LET YOUR AUTOMAIL GET TO SUCH A STATE!? THIS IS THE WORST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE! HOW COULD YOU BE SUCH AN IDIOT!?" Winry screamed, and Wendy shrunk down in her seat.

Suddenly, Winry whipped out a wrench randomly and flung it in Ed's direction, landing square in the middle of his forehead.

"AHH!" he wailed in pain as he collapsed to the floor, cradling his damaged face.

"WHAT THE HELL, WINRY? WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" he said.

"THAT WAS FOR LETTING YOUR FRIEND'S AUTOMAIL GET IN SUCH A HORRIBLE CONDITION!"

They argued more and more, and now MULTIPLE wrenches were getting thrown everywhere.

When Ed and Winry finally tired themselves out, Winry took out a small notebook and a tape measure and started writing down measurements that she needed to make Ed's arm and leg. Then she went over and began to measure Wendy, but she stopped her.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing? I don't need an entire new arm. I just need a few repairs. Right?" Wendy asked.

"No way! I'm an expert, and I know that you definitely need a whole new arm. Yours is just plain awful. You're lucky you have me, because if you kept _that _automail any longer it could have harmed your health. Just be glad that your nerves are already lined up, or it would take _years _for your recovery and everything once you got automail." Winry replied matter-of-factly.

Recalling their horribly painful recovering period, Ed and Wendy shuttered as Winry scribbled down the last measurements into her notebook, ready to go down to her workshop to construct their automail.

"At the least, it will take about five days for me and Granny Pinako to make them." Winry said, not looking up from her notebook.

"Speaking of granny, where is she?" Ed asked.

"At the supermarket right now. When she comes back we will begin constructing your automail right away. Until she comes back, however, we need to do something about your arm, Wendy." Winry replied.

Wendy had a confused look on her face, so Winry explained further.

"We need to remove the automail you have on right now. That means you will go without an arm for a couple of days, but I'm sure you can handle that. I can take you down to my workshop in the basement and set you down on a table right now so I can remove it safely."

"REMOVE IT!? I haven't taken my arm off since I got it. It's adjustable, so whenever I grew I could easily make it longer myself, so there was no need to take it off and get a new one." Wendy said incredulously.

"Since you're not an expert, trying to adjust your automail by yourself was just breaking it more. So that means that the sooner you get your arm off, and the faster I can get your new automail, the better." Winry said.

Wendy sighed and nodded, then was led down to the basement. Ed and Al stayed in the living room.

"Alright. Are you ready? Do you want some painkillers? It will probably hurt a lot. Then again, I'm not quite sure how much it will hurt for you, since you haven't removed it for so long. I'm guessing that since your body and nerves are so used to it being there, the pain will be excruciating. I should probably give you some painkillers, just in case." Winry warned her.

She just shook her head and sighed. "No…I'm good. I think I can handle it. I just want this to be over, so you can start working on my new arm."

Winry nodded. She led her over to a strong metal table, and had her lay down. Winry pulled out her wrench and had her lay her arm flat, and away from her body.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Wait," Wendy interrupted, "I just want to thank you, Winry. I'm really thankful that I came to Resembool with them so I could meet you. I had no idea how dangerous it was keeping this automail, so you helped me a lot. Thank you so much."

Winry grinned. "You're welcome! It's my pleasure to work on automail. So, it's a treat that you came here for me, as well. Plus, it's nice to know that those two lovable morons have a levelheaded friend to stop them from doing something outrageous."

They both laughed, and Winry asked her one more time if she was ready, and she nodded.

She gently lifted up Wendy's arm, and hooked her wrench on the first screw, quickly twisting to loosen it.

A horrifying anguish shot through Wendy, and she clenched her teeth together, groaned slightly, and her heart rate sped up.

Winry loosened a few more screws, which became more and more painful for Wendy.

She slowly counted down in her head, and firmly gripped the entire arm, ready to pull it off.

"Three…two…one!" said Winry, as she yanked the automail out of its socket.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Wendy wailed in pain, as her entire body started trembling. It felt as if Winry had just pulled her _real _arm out of her _real_ socket.

"AHHHH! AHHHH! AHHHH!" she continued screaming, and Winry started to panic, not knowing what to do. Ed didn't react like this, so that must mean that the longer period of time you wait to take out your automail, the more it will hurt when you finally do. She couldn't imagine what the pain felt like.

The discomfort throbbed through Wendy's nerves, through her bones, and through her skin. It was like re-living the same awful pain as she felt when she was four years old and she lost her arm after the transmutation.

Her loud screams soon turned into blood curdling, ear piercing wails. Winry clapped her hands over her ears, and kneeled on the ground. Wendy couldn't take the pain anymore.

And, apparently her body couldn't, either, because she started to pass out.

Just as she was loosing consciousness, she heard people screaming. Specifically, Edward, who was yelling her name.

"Wendy! Wendy! WENDY! WHAT IS HAPPENING? WINRY, WHAT HAPPENED? WENDY! HOLD ON! WENDY! WWWEEEENNNDDYYY!"

And then she was out cold.


	9. Friends and Tea

**Here's chapter 9! Oh my goodness, that means chapter 10 is next! 10 chapters! Anyways, as always, I hope you like the chapter, please review, and enjoy! :)**

* * *

Wendy woke up with a dull headache pulsing in her cranium. She groaned, and opened her eyes.

She saw a man whom she had never seen before. He had light chestnut hair and dark brown eyes. Light stubble dotted his jaw. He was wearing a white coat, and he had a flashlight in his hand, which he proceeded to turn on, and shine right in her eyes.

"She's awake now. Her eyes are responding normally to the light. We just need to get more fluids in her body and she'll be just fine." He said.

"Thank you, doctor. So you said that she'll be alright?" Winry said.

"Yes. Give her some painkillers and let her rest for a few hours. Make sure she drinks lots of liquids. If she passes out again, call me right away." The doctor replied.

Wendy heard him shuffle out of the room, so she proceeded to try to sit up so she could see where she was.

She finally managed to sit up, and then surveyed the room, her eye sight slightly blurry. She was still lying on the table in the basement. She watched Winry follow the doctor up the stairs and out of the door and into the main part of the house so she could fill out some paperwork and say goodbye. She looked around the room more and caught sight of Al who was standing in the corner to her right, with Ed sitting on the ground next to him, his face buried in his knees.

Her eyes became clearer and then she tried speaking.

"Ed…Al…what happened?"

Ed lifted his head, and then stood up when he heard her voice. Al turned his head in her direction, and then they both walked over to her.

"Wendy! You're okay! We were so worried! Apparently, since you've had your automail on for so long, when Winry took it off, your body didn't react so well, and you eventually passed out from the pain. Before you passed out, Brother and I heard you screaming, so we ran down here, and called a doctor. The doctor said that you'll be okay and that resting is what is best for you right now." Al explained.

"Oh…" Wendy said aloud, piecing everything together.

"You idiot…" Ed mumbled under his breath, loud enough for Wendy and Al to hear. He looked furious. His face was pointed down, and he clenched his fists.

"What?" Wendy asked him, starting to get angry herself. _Why did he say that?_

"You're an idiot!" Ed shouted, as he lifted his head and looked strait at her, "I can't believe you did that! You made us worry! We thought you were dead! I didn't know you _this_ stupid!"

_Now _she was angry.

"I'm not stupid! I'm sorry for making you guys worry, but I didn't know that was going to happen! I don't know anything about automail! _You're _the idiot, Ed!"

"Why didn't you just take the pills after Winry warned you it might hurt!? Don't be such a fool next time, or you might actually die!"

Wendy now clenched her fists. There was _no _way that she was going to let Edward call her a fool.

"Gah! Why did you even worry about me, anyways!? I know you hate me, Ed! And so what, if I died? No one would care! I have no one!" She screamed back at him. Her throat caught, but she refused to cry.

Ed's voice lowered, and his eyes drilled holes into hers. "You think no one would care? You think you have no one? If you truly believe that, you are not just an idiot, you're a complete moron. I guess I'll have to teach you a lesson. So, get up." He growled.

"What? What are you taking about? 'Teach me a lesson'?" Wendy hissed.

"I'm talking about a fight! Fight me! Get up and we'll go outside and have a battle!" He challenged.

Wendy thought this over for a second. How good would she be at fighting, without one of her arms? She couldn't use her alchemy, either. She studied Edward. Winry had apparently given him a substitute automail leg for the time, but he was still missing an arm. That meant they were equal.

"No, Wendy! You need to rest! You might pass out again!" Al cautioned, worriedly.

"Alright. Let's go, pipsqueak!" She yelled, jumping out of bed, ignoring the pain. She pounced at him, but he simply dodged her and she rolled on the ground, soon getting back onto her feet. Ed threw the first punch, aimed at her face.

She dramatically jerked back, and then forward, throwing a punch back.

They leapt around the room, punching, kicking, and hurling through the air. Alphonse was standing back, trying to stay out of the way.

Winry heard the ruckus, so she opened the door, only to be knocked over by two people in the middle of a heated battle. She fell on the floor, and the two just jumped over her, and continued fighting while running throughout the house, knocking over various chairs and tables. Before long, they made it outside, now having more room.

Fighting without an arm proved very difficult for Wendy. Ed had done it a few times, but the experience was completely foreign to her. Her hope of winning this fight was running thin.

They found themselves in a wide grass field in front of the house. Edward wasn't letting up one bit; he kept getting faster and faster. Wendy, however, was struggling to keep up with him.

He swung his legs at hers, knocking her off balance. She tried using her arms to push herself back up, then realizing that she was missing one.

She bent her back and thrust her legs forward, causing her to land back on her feet.

He was quick with another swing at her legs, but she jumped, realizing what his next move was going to be. Exhausted, she let her guard down for just a second, until he caught her right in the lower jaw with his fist.

She flew backwards and landed right on her back, dirt and dust flying everywhere around her, clouding her vision.

Wendy attempted to get up, only to be knocked over again. She tried again, still getting knocked down every time, each time faster and faster. Finally, she just stayed still on the ground, her whole body aching.

Ed stood over her, laughing, the dust finally settling around them.

He then bent down, and sat down next to her. She was still laying flat on the dusty ground, grass and dirt littering her hair, face, and clothes.

"How was _this_ supposed to teach me a lesson?" Wendy coughed.

"I was trying to beat some sense into you," Ed said quietly, "You can't just think that no one cares about you like that. All of us were truly worried. If you died, Winry would have never forgiven herself, thinking that it was her fault. Your cousin Jean would probably completely break down. And Al and I would have been horrified. You may think no one cares, and I thought that one time about myself, too. But, it's not true. Al and I won't walk out on you, and we won't let you walk out on yourself, either. We're two of a kind. We'll support each other every step of the way…right?" he whispered.

She smiled, and sat up. "Yeah," she grinned, "Two of a kind."

Ed stood up and offered his hand to help her up. She gladly took it, and the two walked back to the house, joking and laughing together.

* * *

Winry, Al, and Ed sat in the living room, excitedly awaiting the "absolutely amazing" tea Wendy was preparing. She told them that she had brought the ingredients all the way from Xing, and that she had kept it with her all of this time. She explained that her master who taught her alchemy made it for her all the time, and she insisted that it was the best tea they had ever tasted.

Wendy entered the living room, holding a tray with four small teacups on it, all filled to the brim with a bronze- gold liquid.

"Here you go," she said, putting the tray down on the coffee table, "I hope you guys like it!"

Winry, Ed, and Wendy all grabbed a cup, leaving one left over. Then, looking at the last cup, Wendy realized her mistake.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, Al. I keep forgetting that you can't…" she trailed off.

Al shook his head. "It's alright. I understand. It's probably an easy mistake to make."

She felt really bad for forgetting that Al could drink, but she shyly took a sip anyways. Winry and Ed did the same.

"Mmmm!" Winry exclaimed, "This is really good! What kind is it? It tastes sort of fruity."

"It's herbal," she told her, "It's a recipe my sensei created himself. Its normal tea infused with the flavoring of three types of apples. Actually, before I went to Xing, I didn't like tea at all. However, I soon got used to it, and eventually learned to love it when I lived there, considering that is just about the only thing Xingese people drink besides water. This is my favorite recipe I have tried so far."

"It's really good, I love it." Winry said with a grin, chugging down the last bit in her cup, without hesitation.

"Well then, it's settled. I'm adding your tea to my list, Wendy." Al said, while pulling a small notebook out of his armor, and scribbling words into it.

She cocked her head confused, and then Al clarified.

"I keep a little list on all of the stuff I want to eat and drink once I get my body back. On the top of my list is Winry's apple pie, and now, your tea."

Wendy smiled. "Well, I'm honored that my tea to made it onto your exclusive list, Alphonse."

All of them laughed, and then they all heard a sharp ringing noise.

"Oh! Speaking of apple pie, there's the timer, so it must be done!" Winry happily said, skipping out of the living room, into the kitchen.

"So, Ed" Wendy said, turning to him, "Do you like the tea?"

"Yeah, it's fine, I guess." He dismissed, taking another loud slurp of it.

Suddenly, Winry burst out of the kitchen into the living room, and leapt onto Edward's back.

She took out her wrench and started beating his poor head with it over and over, each hit making a vicious slapping noise.

"ED! DON'T BE RUDE! TELL HER YOU LIKE HER TEAAA!" she screamed, proceeding to whack him repeatedly, still positioned on his back, like a monkey.

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! I LIKE YOUR TEA, WENDY!" he wailed, trying to get the crazy automail mechanic off of him.

Al and Wendy, the spectators, were howling in laughter. Tears instantly started leaking out of Wendy's eyes, as she held her stomach, barely able to breathe from laughing. She loved having friends like this.

* * *

The four friends sat, ate pie, drank tea and laughed with each other until the sun went down. When Pinako finally came home, she and Winry began to construct the automail. The rest of them separated, went to bed, and slept. Except for Edward.

He waited until things got quiet, then he got out of bed, and tried to tip toe out of the room he was staying in, silently. Then Al started speaking.

"Where are you going, Brother? Can you not sleep?"

Ed was startled by the sudden noise, and he almost tripped. "Oh, hey, Al. I almost forgot that you don't sleep."

Al attempted to smile.

"Today was fun, huh, Brother? Except for when Wendy passed out, I was really happy all day. We're pretty lucky that we have the friends we do. It almost seemed like everyone forgot that my body is armor. Everyone seemed to treat me like I had a regular, human body today. It made me feel really good." Al whispered.

Edward smiled, and agreed. "I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back."

Al nodded, so Ed escaped the room.

Careful not to make too much noise, he creeped through the hall and into the kitchen. He searched the room, then eventually found what he was looking for. The pitcher of Wendy's tea was still there, so he quickly warmed some up, and put it into a tea cup. Then, lifting it to his lips, he let the heavenly fragrance waft into his nose. He then tipped the cup, letting it pour into his mouth.

He sighed, then smiled.

The scent of the tea reminded him of Wendy's smell, sort of. It was a sweet, and fruity smell, with a hint of tanginess.

Ed then drank the remaining contents, leaving no drop behind.

He _really _liked that tea.


	10. Could it?

**Greetings, my wonderful readers. :) So, I present to you, my TENTH chapter! It's finally here! I can't believe I've made it through ten whole chapters! I want to thank all my readers and followers who have stuck with me every step of the way for ten chapters so far. You guys are amazing. Your support is what has helped me through some difficult times. I thank God everyday for all of you being in my life. :) Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Wendy smiled in her sleep. She had the same exact dream as before.

She felt the familiar warmth she felt before. She felt the arms wrap around her waist. She turned around and saw Ed. They smiled, hugged, and both said "I love you."

When her eyes slowly peeled open, she started questioning herself. Why was she so _happy_ when she had that dream? Why was she having that dream? After all of those years, ten years, having the same exact nightmare, why was she suddenly having such a strange dream?

She dragged herself out of bed, and walked over to where she had Ed's clothes. But, they weren't there. Instead, in their place was a pile of unfamiliar clothes, with a small note on top. She took the note and read it.

_Dear Wendy-_

_Your clothes were getting dirty, so I decided to wash them. In the mean time, I pulled together an old outfit of mine that you can borrow. _

_ -Winry _

She toted the clothes over her arm and examined them. There was a white tank top, and a black skirt.

Wendy held the clothes up to her body for size. She hadn't worn a skirt since she was a little kid. But, since Winry had taken hostage of her other clothes, she was forced to deal with a skirt for now.

Last night, Wendy had full intention of just sleeping in Ed's clothes, but Winry insisted on letting her borrow some pajamas. The pajamas fit Wendy just fine, so Winry's clothes probably would too.

She quickly slithered out of the pajamas. It took a little while for her to change into her new clothes, but that was expected of a girl with one arm.

She tucked her hair into a loose braid, and then headed out of her room and into the kitchen, for some reason expecting a breakfast.

Ed had been awake for about 15 minutes, and was sitting at the dining table, with Al standing next to him.

Edward had on a baggy blue tank top with red horizontal stripes. He combined that with a pair of large black track pants. His hair was out of its usual braid style, and was flowing onto his shoulders loosely. It caused Wendy to stop in her tracks and gape at how he looked. She had never seen him so…_casual._

"Good morning, Wendy! How did you sleep last night?" Alphonse greeted.

Her face reddened as her mind went to her dream.

"Umm, I slept fine. Thanks. So, what are we having for breakfast?" she asked.

"Well, since Winry and Granny are still working, they couldn't make anything. Al and I don't really know how to cook so…." Ed said, nodding towards her. She knew what he was saying. She was going to have to make breakfast.

Wendy sighed and got to it. She sorted through the pantry, coming across a few things. She grabbed some English muffins, a few eggs, butter, some seasonings, and a bar of cheese. She scooped up her ingredients and walked over to the stove.

She melted the butter in a pan, and then cracked the eggs into it as well. She warmed up the English muffins while the eggs were cooking. She lightly coated the pan she put the muffins on with some butter. The kitchen was soon filled with a mouth-watering redolence that made Ed drool.

She soon pulled the now warm English muffins out of the oven, and then waited until the eggs were done cooking. When they were, she sprinkled on a few miscellaneous spices on as a final touch. She stacked the cooked scrambled eggs onto the bread and added the cheese onto the warm egg, letting it melt. Adding a pinch of salt on top, she put a sandwich on a plate and then served it to Ed. She looked for the pitcher of her tea from yesterday to warm up and serve with the food, but she could find it.

"Hey, Ed? Do you know what happened to the rest of the tea I made yesterday? I could've sworn that there was some still left over." Wendy said, still searching.

He almost choked when he heard that. He coughed, and tried hiding his face. There was _no_ way he could tell her he finished off the entire pitcher last night.

"Uh, I'm not sure. Maybe Winry had the rest this morning." He lied.

Wendy furrowed her eyebrows, but then shrugged. She then poured some cold milk into a few glasses, sliding one across the table to Ed.

Al walked over to Wendy and tapped her on the shoulder, leaning into her ear to whisper something.

"Wendy…You might want to take that milk away from Brother. He _hates_ milk." He warned.

She scoffed and then turned to Ed. "Hey, suck it up. Just drink your milk. It's all they got besides water."

He scowled, and then pushed the glass of milk away from himself. "Ew. I think I'd rather take some water."

She rolled her eyes, and took the glass away from him, grumbling. She filled another glass with water and then slid it to him, which he gladly drank.

"Hey, I think I'll take these other glasses of milk and these extra sandwiches up to Winry and Pinako. They've been working pretty hard all night, so I think they deserve a break to eat." Wendy said, looking to the brothers for approval.

They nodded, then she strolled over to Ed, leaning in from behind him.

His face blushed bright red as her light skin that was exposed by her tank top brushed up against his neck. She leaned over him and reached for the sandwich in his hand, and took a bite.

"Mmm." She said happily, standing back up again, brushing the crumbs off of her face, "I didn't know that my cooking was that good. Especially since it's been forever since I last cooked."

Edward was still blushing viciously, and Al chuckled in response. Wendy simply gathered the food and glasses and walked down to the basement where Winry and Pinako were working.

"Hey, guys!" she chirped, walking down the basement stairs, surveying the room. Winry was tinkering with a few pieces of metal in the middle of the room, and Pinako was hunched over a stack of papers, sketching something madly. Winry looked up from her work, and smiled.

"Hello, Wendy. Oh, did you bring us breakfast? I thought I smelt something delicious coming from up stairs. That's so nice of you!" Winry beamed.

She handed the food and glasses to them. Pinako remarked how a fine young lady she was, and then she walked over to the sketches of the automail, eyeing them curiously.

"Wooow…" Wendy breathed, studying them closely, "This is what my new arm is going to look like?"

Pinako smiled and said, "That is our draft so far. You and Ed's arms are going to be virtually the same exact model. We are making quite a bit of progress already. Give us a few more days and you three can be on your way back to Central."

Wendy grinned and then thanked them, letting them eat and get back to work. She trudged back upstairs, whistling a happy tune.

When she made it to the kitchen, the Elric brothers were no where to be found.

"Ed! Al! Where are you?" She called.

Suddenly, she felt a strong, cold arm wrap around her face, with a second arm whisking her off of her feet, and she felt herself be carried outside, not able to scream.

The person finally let go of her, dropping her onto the ground.

"Eeek!" she shrieked lightly, landing with a thud.

She looked up, just to see the friendly face of Alphonse.

He giggled, and Wendy laughed along with him, feeling light drops of water fall into her soft, warm hair.

Al, like a gentleman, helped her up. The rain was now falling down much faster, sprinkling small, light drops.

Wendy then felt her legs give out from underneath her, causing her to tumble back to the damp ground.

Grunting, she looked up, just to see the triumphant face of Edward Elric, standing above her.

She laughed harder, and then pulled herself up, throwing a punch at him. He swiftly dodged it, and kicked at her legs once again.

She jumped up and thrust herself at him, throwing a left hook, and a kick, which he avoided with ease.

They hopped around the field, kicking and punching, still both missing one arm.

Wendy never thought that she'd ever fight in a skirt.

The two of them laughed hysterically, the rain now pouring. It made their stumps ache because of the sudden weather change, but they were having too much fun. There was no way they were going inside anytime soon.

Another punch. Another kick. More jumping, and even more dodging. Alphonse was at first cheering for his brother, but then started cheering for Wendy. The three of them were cracking up. Despite the gloomy weather, there was a joyful aura all around them. They ended up sparring for an hour or so.

Eventually, Edward, of course, threw the last kick, which knocked Wendy onto her back, exasperated.

It was raining heavily, so they all took cover under the porch of the house, soaking wet.

They all laughed more, and then Wendy started shivering, her teeth chattering together loudly.

"Are you cold, Wendy?" Ed asked, grabbing at his coat, offering it to her.

She nodded, gladly accepting. He pulled off his coat, revealing a thin white t-shirt underneath it. He handed it to her and she pulled it on. It was cold and wet, and it just made her colder. But, for some reason, it sent warm tingles throughout her body to think that she was wearing Ed's jacket. So she kept it on.

"I'm going inside. Maybe you and Al should spar a little more. I'll make us something hot to drink for when you come inside." Wendy suggested with a smile.

Al and Ed agreed, and then ran out into the field, eager to begin their battle.

She stepped into the warm house, looking back at them. The two brothers were talking about something while they were fighting. Whatever they were talking about must have been something very happy, because Ed was grinning ear to ear.

Wendy boiled some water and then added some cocoa powder and sugar to it, then pouring the mixture into two glasses. Taking one for herself, she grabbed a blanket.

She sat by the window, watching Ed and Al fight. She wrapped the large blanket around her and held the mug protectively in her hands. She sighed happily, and took a sip.

Still watching them spar, she observed that even without one of his arms, Ed was a great fighter. He had experience, skill, speed, and, most importantly, strategy. However, just by watching them for about a minute she knew that Al was going to beat his younger brother, any second now.

As she predicted, Al swung his large fist into Ed's side, knocking him down. He set his metal foot on top of his older brother's stomach, to confirm his victory.

Edward scowled, but then congratulated Al once he got back up. Then the two brothers started walking back towards the house.

The warm mist from her hot cocoa made Wendy's face warm. She snuggled into the large blanket more.

Ed and Al stepped onto the front porch, resting before they came inside. She waved at them through the window, and they happily waved back.

Then she started thinking. She started thinking about Ed. Then she thought about herself. Then she thought about Ed _and _herself.

_No. I'm not going to say it. No. I'm not going to feel it. I don't feel it. No. That can't be possible. No. My mind is wrong. I'm crazy. I don't feel that way about him._

_ I'm not going to say that I'm in love._ Wendy thought.

Her heart raced, and her palms started sweating, almost causing the mug to slide out of her hands, so she gripped it harder.

She had never even put much thought into "love". She thought it was just a word used in fairytales and children's stories. She never had much fondness towards the word, so why was it that that exact word kept popping into her mind and in her dreams over and over recently? She saw that word wherever she looked. It repeated in her mind constantly. _Why? Why does the word "love" keep making its way into my thoughts? _Wendy wondered.

_Unless…unless I really am…_

_ No. It couldn't be. _

_ …Could it? _


	11. Truth Be Told

**The poem in the beginning is written by me! Hope you like it! (written from Wendy's point of view)**

* * *

Scary and dark my troubles loom,

But no one's here to bind my wounds.

There's no soft touch,

No assuring words,

I just want _love_ so very much.

I miss that warmth that others have

Is craving affection so very bad?

The loneliness is eating me,

Devouring me, bit by bit.

All I want now is for you to see.

My heart, it beats and beats alone.

All I want now is a home,

Somewhere I belong,

Where people aren't always

Pointing out my many wrong.

On my face, a smile is shown.

But in my blue eyes, my true feelings are known.

Feelings of regret, and mostly pain.

Of that very night,

The beast inside has not yet been slain.

All I want now is a friend.

Who, to my deep wounds they will attend.

Someone to kiss me gently at night,

Wish me good dreams,

And finally whisper "It's alright."

* * *

The next day started about the same as the day before. Edward and Alphonse woke up first; Wendy wandered into the kitchen, made breakfast (this time toast and bacon) and then went outside. This time, however, she wasn't planning on sparring with Ed. She had taken an alchemy book and was going to try to spend the day reading by herself under a tree.

She decided she needed a little time by herself. Because, well, recently, her mind had been spinning. Powerful thoughts entered her brain, and powerful feelings beat in her heart. She kept repeating the same words in her head.

"It's not true. It's not true. It's not true. I don't feel that way."

While she was walking, book in hand, through the field towards no where in particular, she started feeling queasy again.

Her mind thought to last night.

* * *

It was about 9:00, and Wendy decided she was really tired, and that she would go to bed early. She slowly shuffled into the bathroom, weakly grasping onto her toothbrush, and started brushing. She sighed.

She took her hair out of the braid and then flicked off the light to the bathroom, and crawled into her bed. Right when her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep.

She had thought she would have the same dream as before, with Ed. But instead of feeling warmth, she felt a fierce chill.

She found her body lying in an absolutely white infinity. Just whiteness. Something felt oddly familiar about this place. And she was getting a very bad feeling.

"Hello, Wendy. I was expecting you. It seems that you only like to believe what you want to be true. That's why you are here right now. I'm here to tell you the _real_ truth." A voice boomed.

Wendy started shaking. She knew who was talking to her. She heard that same voice every night, until recently.

It was truth.

She stood up, and looked at the white humanoid figure head on.

Then she realized something. Whenever she would have her flashback of the night John and her attempted human transmutation, it seemed as though her mind and body were separate. She couldn't control what she did in her dream, because it was a flashback. But now, she was her present self, and she could move and talk as she pleased.

She wasn't going to let Truth scare her anymore. She was going to face him, head on.

"Hey, Truth! Or, God! Or…whoever the hell you are! Why am I here?" yelled Wendy, clenching her fists.

It frowned. "You haven't changed a bit, Miss. Havoc. You are the same exact troublesome, rebellious little brat that you were when you were four years old. I would have thought that you would have grown up a bit, but you haven't. What a shame."

She ground her teeth, and turned red with anger, her fists now trembling.

"What do you want!? Why did you bring me here!? Haven't you caused me enough pain!? Do you enjoy torturing me? Is that it?" Wendy angrily whispered. She didn't know if she could face Truth anymore. It was becoming too much.

It laughed, and then slightly smirked. "I told you why you're here. You keep avoiding the Truth. I'm here to force it into you, whether you like it or not. So, let's get down to business." Everything was silent for awhile, except for the sound of Wendy's heavy breathing. What was the truth? What was she avoiding?

Finally, "God" spoke up.

"You may try to run away from it, Wendy. But the truth is, you're in love with Edward Elric."

She stopped breathing, and her heart skipped a beat. Her icy eyes softened, and her fists unclenched.

"You love him. You love him because he knows what you have been through. You love him because he has been there for you. You love him because you see something special in him. Something that even _I_ don't see. You love him because you two have cried the same tears. Opened the same wounds. You love him because you are the same. You love him because you are two of a kind."

She just stood there. She couldn't move. She couldn't breath, or even think about speaking. Was that really the truth she had been avoiding?

Then she got angry.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW? YOU DON'T KNOW WHO I AM! ALL YOU ARE TO ME IS THE EVIL BEING THAT TOOK MY BROTHER! YOU DON'T KNOW ME!" She screamed, and tears started pouring out of her eyes, and she collapsed to the ground, burying her face into her knees. "You don't know me…" she whispered.

It cocked it's head, looking at the fourteen year old, quietly weeping right in front of itself. It was at a loss of words. Was this girl _really _that dumb?

"You don't have to believe me. So why are you getting so upset? What is so bad about falling in love? It is a natural human emotion." Truth calmly explained.

Wendy lifted her head, her brown hair stuck to her tear-stained face.

"I can't fall in love. Not now. I have things I need to do. I need to become the best alchemist I can possibly be. That was my brother's last wish for me. My Mother encouraged me to become a great alchemist, too. I _can't _let them down. I just…can't. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I disappointed them. I have to make them proud. Edward has things he needs to do as well. He promised his brother he was going to get their bodies back. He can't break that promise. They've gone too far already."

Truth didn't look the least bit sympathetic at all. Instead he just had on an unreadable poker face. "I see you still have Atychiphobia. You can't stand disappointing others. It would kill you. I thought you would have grown out of that, too."

Wendy was confused. What was it talking about?

"Never mind, child. Now that you know the truth, you may leave. There's no more denying it. You love him. But, my only question is… what are you going to do now?" It asked.

Wendy thought for a moment. However, she decided that by waiting a long time to think about it would make her seem weak. So she confidently answered.

"I'm going to keep moving forward. I'm going to train. I'll study alchemy every second of the day if that is what I need to do. Then, eventually, I'll leave. I'll let Ed and Al continue their journey. Without me. I'm just holding them back. I'm not sure when, or where I'll go. But I just have to get far, far away from Amestris. That's my plan."

Truth nodded respectfully.

"Fine then. I can't make you believe or do anything. You control your own life. Do what you please. But, keep in mind the consequences. Goodbye, Wendy Havoc."

Her heavy eyelids opened, and she let out a deep exhale.

It was only a dream.

But it had left her very shaken.

Truth's words echoed in her head.

"You may try to run away from it, Wendy. But the truth is, you're in love with Edward Elric."

"What is so bad about falling in love?"

"What are you going to do now?"

She tried sitting up in her bed, but her body had become weak. She moaned, and stood up. Her stomach churned painfully.

Suddenly, she felt something rising up her throat, ready to come out.

Wendy slapped her hand over her mouth and dashed to the bathroom. There, she crouched on the ground next to the toilet. Using her hand on the side of the bowl for support, and dipped her head near the toilet seat, and vomited.

It just continued, for quite awhile. Until almost all the contents of her stomach were in the water.

She lifted her head when it was done, and wiped her mouth.

But the words kept coming back to her.

"You're in love with Edward Elric."

Her stomach flipped, and then she vomited again.

She begged silently for these words not to be true. She promised herself at that moment that she wouldn't let that happen, if it hasn't already.

"I'm not going to fall in love." She murmured.

Then, she stood up, and returned to bed.

* * *

[Back to present]

Wendy eventually found a nice, warm patch of grass. She sat down, and opened the book, her back leaning against a tree. Her eyes scanned the first page, quickly taking in all of the information. Her mind ran through the words quickly. She already knew everything written down on that page.

She rummaged through the book some more, coming to a page she had seen many times. She saw her brother read it over and over, at least five times a day. He had shown it to her a few times, but since she was four years old at the time, she didn't understand it.

Wendy read the title aloud, the words coming out in bitterness and disgust.

"The History of Human Transmutation."

* * *

Edward laid on his back in the dirt, letting his skin soak up the sunlight. He was glad it had gotten sunnier in the last few hours. It was a nice break from the rainy weather before. It had made his arm and leg stump ache painfully.

He sighed, glancing over at Alphonse, who was lying next to him. They both had nothing to do, since Wendy went to read a book by herself all day, and she was their main source of entertainment recently.

Then Ed remembered something.

"Hey, Al. Do you think that Wendy was acting…_weird_ this morning?" Ed asked.

Al was silent for a moment. Then he answered, "Yeah. I guess so. After she made breakfast, it seemed like she didn't want to talk to us—especially you. I wonder what was bugging her."

"Yeah. I hope I didn't do anything to make her angry." Ed replied.

"Well, she didn't really seem angry. She actually seemed sort of…sad. It looked like she wanted to say something, but she couldn't. I don't know. That sounds weird, but that's what it looked like." Al said.

"Yeah," Ed agreed,

"I hope she's all right."


	12. The Prince and the Princess

**Hello everyone! Chapter 12! Hope you like it! It's my longest chapter yet! In this chapter, there are ****_many_**** metaphors and symbols. So, while you're reading this, try looking past the words for a deeper meaning. (Especially during the part of Wendy's dream). I had a blast writing that part. It took a long time, but I thought it turned out adorable. I'm a big fan of taking the classic "prince saving princess from a castle" theme and adding a twist to it. :) Also, I included another poem in the beginning, but it isn't written by me. I found it on the internet, and it didn't specify who exactly wrote it. If anyone knows who wrote it, tell me in a PM. All rights go to them. Also, speaking of copyright, I forgot to mention in earlier chapters that Fullmetal Alchemist does not belong to me. (Obviously). All rights go to Hiromu Arakawa. Please review, favorite, and anything like that. Well, I love you guys, so thanks for reading. God bless. Enjoy. :)**

* * *

A kiss is just a kiss until you find the one you love,

A hug is just a hug, until you find the one you're always thinking about.

A dream is just a dream, until it comes true.

Love was just a word, until I met you.

* * *

The next few days went by quickly for Wendy. She performed the same routine every day.

Wake up. Make breakfast for Ed, Winry, and Pinako. Grab her book. Tell Ed and Al she was leaving. Then, take her book to the same tree and spend the entire day there. When it started getting dark, Wendy would head back to the house.

But, today, things were different.

After she made breakfast, she sighed, and swung open the door, ready to leave. Just as she stuck her foot out, Edward dashed over to her and grabbed her wrist, making her stop.

"Wendy! Where are you going?" Ed asked.

"Oh," Wendy said, furrowing her brows, "The same place I've been going. Outside to study alchemy."

"Well, maybe...do you think that…you could..." Ed struggled to say. He started to blush. She tried tugging her arm away. She wanted to leave that house. Right now.

She couldn't stand him being so close.

"Do you think that you could stay, and spar with me? I could teach you some good strategies on how to win in a fight without your right arm. Besides, Winry and Granny are almost done making our automail, so there's no point in leaving and then coming all the way back in a few hours." Ed continued, "So, would you mind staying?"

Wendy pursed her lips, wanting to scream at him to let her go. Her heart started beating faster and faster. "No, Ed. I need to study. I'll come back later tonight. You have Alphonse to spar with." She said bitterly.

His eyes widened. He looked down, ashamed.

"What did I do, Wendy? Why have you been avoiding me? Have I made you angry?"

She looked at him curiously, her eyes threatening to leak.

"What do you mean? I haven't been avoiding you. I just want to study, okay?"

"Study!? Why have you been studying so much all of a sudden? We used to be pretty good friends, but recently you refuse to even look me in the eye anymore. Tell me what I did! I'll fix it! I swear!" he insisted.

"Stop being an idiot, Ed. You didn't do anything wrong. I don't have time for friends right now. And, frankly, you don't either."

His face reddened, and he clenched his fists, trying to contain the storm brewing inside of him.

"Damn it, Wendy! How could you say that!? People need friends! You can't just ignore human kindness because you don't think you need it! You really are a dumb ass! Al and I worry too much about you, and you don't even care!"

"SHUT UP, ED! I don't need your kindness! Now, or ever! I never asked you to be my friend! I never asked you to worry! So why don't you just leave me alone!? I can handle myself just fine!"

"No you can't! You almost died from the pain of getting your automail taken off! There's a lot worse things out there, and you're really going to get hurt! I can't let that happen to you! I promised Jean awhile ago that I would protect you. I can't just take that back."

Her jaw slightly dropped.

_That_ just pushed it over the edge.

"I DON'T NEED YOUR PROTECTION! I DON'T NEED YOUR WARNINGS! AND…" She started shaking, "I DON'T NEED YOU!"

Edward winced. He let go of her wrist.

"I'll be back." She stated, leaving the house.

She refused to look back at him as she walked away.

* * *

Wendy's body slumped. She forced her eyelids to stay open. She looked around her.

It was dark, and the night sky boasted a bright full moon. She was so wrapped up in a particular chapter in her book that she had stayed out the entire day. It was going to be pitch black soon, and she had no idea how she was going to get back to Winry's house.

But the last thing she wanted right then was to go back there. Earlier, Ed was right.

She had been avoiding him.

But, Wendy thought it was for their own good. After Truth had confronted her, she struggled to stay away from him as much as she could.

She knew that if she talked to Ed that it would just complicate things.

It would just pull her in.

His soft blond hair, his light caramel eyes, his warm kind words, his wide smile, his strong built arms, his comforting smell…

It would just make her fall in love with him over and over again.

So she refused.

If she stayed away from him, then she would be able to put aside her feelings. They would just slowly cease to exist over time.

That, however, was what Wendy _thought_ would happen.

Is it possible to just stop loving a person forever?

After falling in love with every aspect of a person, loving their every flaw and imperfection, and having such deep, passionate feelings for someone…

Was it really possible for that to fade away forever?

Wendy's eyes ran over a page in her book, again and again. She had to have read it at least thirty times at that point. The words were so confusing, and her head was unable to comprehend their meanings.

She felt dizzy. Or was she just sleepy?

Either way, her eyes eventually closed, and her limp body fell into the cold grass beside her.

* * *

Edward was terrified. What had he done?

"Brother, calm down. I'm sure she'll be back soon." Al assured him, resting his large hand onto his older brother's tense shoulder, patting him gently.

"But, what if she doesn't Al? What if she doesn't come back? What if she is stuck somewhere? She could be in trouble, or even hurt! I shouldn't have yelled at her this morning. But I got angry, and I couldn't help it. We have to find her." Ed rambled.

Alphonse shook his head, exasperated. He knew that Wendy could take care of herself. However, he was a bit surprised that his brother was getting so worked up about her not being back to the house yet. It wasn't like him at all to be acting like that. Ed was a lot of things, but a worrier was not one of them.

"Is she back yet?" Winry came in, rubbing her dark rimmed eyes. She and Pinako had just installed Ed's automail, and they were both exhausted. They had stayed awake all night and day for five days strait. Winry had almost collapsed a few times, so Granny let her take naps every so often, just so her head was strait and she wouldn't mess up on the automail.

"No," Ed told her, "There's been no sign of her since this morning. Al and I are going to find her."

"Are you crazy!?" Winry said, her light blue eyes bulging out, "It's about to rain! You can't go outside with your new automail while it's raining! I'll go look for Wendy. We need to install her arm soon. I'm sure she's around here somewhere."

"Winry, I don't think you should be going outside in this weather either. You'll get a cold. Plus, you need some sleep. You haven't had a strait hour sleep for a long time. I'll go." Pinako said, walking into the room, wiping her hands on a small grey towel.

"Granny! You can't go out there, either! You need sleep just as much as Winry does. I'll go. I can't get sick. I'll find Wendy, and bring her back here as soon as possible." Al said, turning to Winry and Pinako.

"Well, if you're going, Al, then I'm going, too. I know the area better than you do. You might get lost." Winry argued.

"No way! Like Granny said, you'll get sick. I can find my way around here just fine. I won't get lost. Just stay here, Winry." Al said.

"You haven't been to Resembool for awhile. You probably forgot your way around here. I'm worried about her. I'm going with you, Al."

"No! I won't let you come!"

"Don't make me take out my wrench!"

"That trick only works on Brother. You're not going, and that's final."

"You can't tell me what to do!"

"Fine, Granny, tell Winry she can't go with me." Al said, turning to Pinako.

"I hope you two know that Ed just took off out the door." She replied coolly.

Winry and Alphonse whirled around, to see the front door wide open. The chilly, moist air blew into the living room.

"Brother! Come back!" Al called, dashing out the door.

Winry stepped forward, but Pinako stopped her.

"Let Al go." Granny told her.

"But why? He has no sense of direction ever since he got his armor body! He can only rely on his memory! He's going to get lost!" Winry countered.

"Exactly. That means that it's going to take awhile before Al will be able to find Wendy or Ed. I have a feeling that those two need some time to themselves." Granny explained.

"Why? What happened between Ed and Wendy?" Winry asked.

"You saw how worried Ed was about her earlier. He needs to find her before Al does. They need to work things out between the two of them."

Winry stared at Pinako.

Just then, she was once again reminded how truly wise her grandmother was.

* * *

Edward's boots pounded into the thick mud as he ran. He didn't know where he was going. He couldn't _see_ where he was going. But he had to find her.

She could've been dying.

He wiped the sweat off of his forehead. His stumps ached because of the weather. And since he had just gotten new automail, it was extremely painful.

But he had to find her.

His golden bangs stuck to his sweaty temples. Ed could see his warm breath clouding right in front of him. It was freezing outside.

But he had to find her.

He hurt all over; he was tired, and he was scared.

But he _had_ to find her.

* * *

Wendy's dream started out with her lying in a bed of daisies. The sun shined brightly overhead. She looked down at herself.

She was wearing a floor length creamy white dress, with light pink lace trimmings. It was strapless, and it fit her perfectly. Her footwear consisted of a pair of matching creamy white open-toed heels.

Then she heard a noise behind her.

She tried looking around, but soon heard quiet breathing behind her.

Wendy turned around, to see a person dressed in thin silver armor. There was a carving of the alchemy symbol etched into the right breast plate. She stared at the symbol curiously.

"Hello, Princess Wendy. I'm here to rescue you from this grungy castle you have been locked up in!" The man said.

"Castle? I'm not in a-" She said but was cut off by the realization that she was now in a grey-stoned castle.

"Wait. How did I get here? I was just in a garden." Wendy said uncertainly.

"Garden…? You must be mistaken, beautiful princess. There's no garden around here." He said.

"Stop calling me that. I'm not a princess. My name is Wendy Havoc. I'm a state alchemist, under the title of "The Sapphire Alchemist". May I ask who you are?"

"Your hero." He simply replied.

She scoffed. "I don't need a hero. I'm perfectly capable of escaping myself."

"Are you sure? Because you've been locked up in here for ten years now. If you could save yourself, I would've expected that you would do it by now." He replied.

She gasped. "Ten years? I've been in here that long?"

He stood stiffly. "Do you even remember anything? Do you even know what has been happening to you since you've been in here?"

She thought for a second. She had no clue, so she stayed silent.

The man put his gloved hand on her lower back. She felt the heat radiating from his hand underneath the material. He ushered her over to a tall, fancy mirror leaning against a wall in the room. The word "Truth" was inscribed into the top edge of the mirror.

"Go ahead. Take a look." He said, gently nudging her towards the mirror.

She sheepishly walked towards it, gazing at her reflection.

Wendy looked beautiful. The dress she was wearing was magnificent on her. Her hair was in loose, soft brown curls, that framed her face nicely. She didn't know what the guy was talking about.

"What are you trying to show me? I don't see anything wrong with my appearance." She said, turning towards the armor-wearing person behind her.

"You don't see anything wrong? Well, look again." He commanded her.

Surely, she turned back towards the mirror, and was hit by a horrifying sight.

Hundreds of dark purple bruises littered her light skin. Blood stained her once beautiful dress. She turned slightly, catching a glance at about twenty scars on her back. Some were wide, and faded. Others, thin and new.

"W-what happened to me?" Wendy stammered. When she looked down at herself, she looked normal. But when she looked in the mirror, she looked like she had gotten beat up, multiple times.

"You're hurt. Badly. Even though you can't always see it. But don't worry, Princess. I'm here to help you." The man said.

Her eyes filled with tears. "How can you help me? You can't do anything!"

He slowly lifted his hands up to his head, firmly grasping the sides of his helmet. The metal then lifted, revealing his face.

A man, with sharp gold eyes and hair. He smiled, awaiting her reaction.

Of course it was Ed.

"Edward! What are you doing here!?" She exclaimed.

"I'm here to save you. Save you from this castle. Save you from the pain."

"How can you save me? There's nothing you can do. I'm just going to stay in this castle forever. I'll just keep getting beatings. I'll never be free." She whispered sadly.

He frowned. Then he replied.

"I share your pain."

Wendy then looked into the mirror. And instead of seeing Ed with armor on standing beside her, she saw Ed wearing a nice white dress shirt, and black dress pants, which were stained with blood.

He had identical matching bruises of hers. He had the scars. Every injury she had, he had it in the same spot on himself.

She raised her shaky hand, resting it on her mouth.

"Oh my gosh…Edward…what happened to you?" Wendy whispered.

"The same things that have happened to you. See, Wendy? We share the same pain," he continued, "We're two of a kind."

They both looked back at their reflections in the mirror.

"What is this mirror for?" She asked.

Ed walked closer to the mirror, and pointed at the carving at the top of it. It still said "Truth".

"It's here to show the truth. It's here to show us what we can't see with just our eyes." He murmured.

"So, how do we get out of this prison? How do we heal our injuries?" Wendy asked, getting back to point.

Sadness flashed in Ed's eyes. "Unfortunately, our wounds will never fully heal. Scars don't heal. However, they do fade. But, only if we move on with our lives. Only if we continue moving forward."

"Okay. But how do we escape the castle? Are we going to stay here forever?" She asked.

Ed just smiled, and extended his hand. Wendy hesitantly took it, and he guided her over towards the barred window on the opposite wall.

The large, heavy iron bars across the window seemed impossible to break. She then went to the next option in her mind, which was to use alchemy. She lifted her hands, ready to clap.

"Alchemy won't work here. The only way to break free from the prison is by doing one thing." Edward told her. She looked at him expectantly.

He grabbed both of her hands, and pulled her closer.

Ed leaned in, and their warm lips touched.

The kiss was sweet, and passionate. It was…

Magical.

When they separated, the barred window was no longer there. It was replaced with a wide, golden-colored door.

"Are you ready, Princess?" Ed asked.

She smiled at him.

"Yes, my prince."

Then, hand in hand, the prince and the princess walked through the door, out of the prison door, into a warm garden of daisies.

* * *

"Ed…Edward…We're free…We're finally free…" Wendy whispered in her sleep.

"Wendy! Wendy! Wake up!" Edward shouted.

"Prince…?" She mumbled, opening her eyes.

"What!? It's me, Ed. Are you alright?"

"Yeah," She answered. She couldn't see him. It was too dark outside. She could only hear his voice, and the sound of rain hitting the ground.

"You fell asleep outside. We were all worried, so I went looking for you. Come on. Let's go home." He said.

She tried getting up, but she fell down, weak.

He scooped his arms under her, and lifted her into his arms, holding her closely, bridal style.

"You're too weak to walk. I'll carry you. You haven't been eating or drinking for the past few days, and I think you might have a cold." He told her.

She laughed lightly at the irony.

"Is this your payback for when I carried you when we first met?" Wendy said, looking up, smiling.

Ed laughed. "Yeah. So be careful, because I just might drop you." He teased.

They laughed.

Then it was silent for awhile.

"Hey, Wendy?" He then whispered.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for earlier. I shouldn't have yelled at you. It was wrong of me. And, I'm sorry for making you angry, if I did. I won't worry about you anymore, if that's what you want. I'll leave you alone once we return to Central."

A ping of fear shot through her.

What would her life be like without him?

"No, Ed. I didn't mean what I said. I'm glad you worry about me. It's nice knowing that someone thinks I'm worth worrying about."

"You're worth more than you give yourself credit for, Wendy." He replied.

* * *

Ed made it a little farther, and eventually Al crossed his path. Both relieved that Wendy was okay, the brothers walked back to Winry's house, Wendy still cuddled in Ed's arms.

Pinako got the three of them towels to dry off, and, having enough excitement for the day, they all went to bed.

_You're worth the whole world to me, Wendy._ Edward thought.

* * *

**Did you like it? If you did, a review is appreciated! ^_^ Thanks for reading!**


	13. Valentine's Day

**Hello, Readers! Sorry for the late chapter. This week has been crazy! Anyways, as some of you may know, Valentine's Day is on Friday. (If you don't know what Valentine's Day is, look it up). So, in celebration of the holiday, I decided to make an extra fluffy chapter. Since I haven't yet said exactly what season or month it is in my story right now, I decided to make this chapter take place on Valentine's Day. That means it's winter, into early spring sort of time. The rest of the story will officially follow that timeline, too. I included another poem at the beginning, which is written by me. Please review, and favorite. Thanks! Enjoy~! :)**

* * *

A broken beauty,

With a shattered dream.

What started with a circle,

Ended with a scream.

A lifelong friend,

Taken away by Truth.

But she also lost

Her innocence and youth.

For human kind,

Sacrifice can bring pain.

But without it,

It's impossible to gain.

She declared herself

A queen of ice.

Ever since the day

She paid the ultimate price.

She says that she can

Handle the pain.

But in her blue eyes,

Darkness reins.

Her whole life,

She thought she couldn't restart.

But _he_ was the one,

Who melted her Fullmetal heart.

* * *

"Ready?" Winry asked.

Wendy sighed, and clenched her teeth.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"Three…two…one!" Winry shouted.

Winry and Pinako twisted the screws on her automail. She slightly cringed and yelped in pain, but it was _nothing_ to what she felt when Winry took off her automail before. So she could take it.

"Alright. It's on. Try it out!" Winry exclaimed.

Wendy hesitantly stood up and moved her automail fingers around.

"It's…" Wendy trailed off. She was in total awe.

"…It's so…amazing." She finished.

Winry gasped. "I know, right!? It's nothing less than a master piece, if I do say so myself." She said. Then she began rambling on and on about the beauty and perfection of automail.

Ed and Al walked over to Wendy, and examined her arm.

"Nice! It looks just like mine." Edward remarked.

Wendy smiled in return, and gazed at Ed while he was still looking at her automail. Her eyes softened as she looked at his happy golden eyes.

Ed may have not noticed it, but Al did.

"Alright! How about we go test out that new arm of yours with a battle?" Ed looked up, and asked her.

"You're on, Shortie!" she returned.

The two eager alchemists raced out the front door, onto the field.

Al stood there in the living room, peering happily out of the open front door.

"Brother, why can't you just learn to stay still?" He whispered to himself.

"Why aren't you going out there with them?" Pinako asked. She draped an oil- soaked towel over her shoulder.

"I'll give them a little time to themselves. They deserve it." Alphonse replied.

And, with a sly smile, he added, "And besides, it's Valentine's Day."

Pinako chuckled lightly and grinned. "Winry and I are probably going to go back to sleep. Why don't you go into town and pick out a few nice things for yourself."

He nodded. "That sounds good. Brother has some money in his suitcase. I'll be back later, then."

He gathered some money, and went outside to say goodbye to Ed and Wendy.

"Hey, I'm going to town for a little while to pick up a few things. I'll be back this afternoon. Don't have too much fun while I'm gone!" he teased.

"Yeah, see ya, Al." Ed dismissed as he quickly returned his attention back to the fight. He and Wendy were laughing as they threw punches, teasing each other.

Al laughed, and traveled into town.

* * *

It was about 1:00, and Al hadn't bought anything since he came to town. The reason was that whenever he found something he liked, his attention would be immediately caught by something else. So, eventually, instead of getting something for himself, Al decided he would get something for his Edward.

"Hmm. I don't really see anything that I think Ed would like." Al said.

He continued walking forward, barely noticing the odd looks people were giving him. He had gotten used to the reaction people would have to seeing such giant armor walking around. But, Al could care less what they thought, as long as they didn't know that the armor they were seeing was hollow.

As he continued walking, he saw a small, humble flower stand to his right. The magnificent colors of the flowers drew him closer.

"Hello." A woman greeted him, coming out from behind the stand. "Are you looking for anything in particular?"

She had wavy dirty blonde hair, and creamy brown, small eyes. Her wide smile dominated her facial features, and she looked very friendly.

Al thought for a moment.

"Well…do you have any red roses?" he asked.

* * *

Ed slurped his stew loudly, and Winry then scolded him about manners. Wendy just sat silently, politely nibbling at her food.

"This is great. Where did you learn how to cook like this, Pinako?" she asked.

"From my mother, who learned from her mother, who learned from her mother. It's the skills passed down from generation to generation in the Rockbell family." Granny answered.

Speaking of mothers, Wendy wanted to ask Winry where her mother was. And her father, as well, for that matter. But she had a horrible feeling that Winry wouldn't want to talk about it. So, she didn't ask.

There was a light knock at the door.

Winry and Edward were chatting, and Pinako had retreated from the dining room back into the kitchen. So Wendy went to answer it.

She twisted open the brass knob to the front door, and was bombarded with the heavy scent of fresh flowers right in front of her.

"Hey, Wendy! Happy Valentine's day!" Al said, peeking out from behind the flowers.

"Al!" she said happily, giving him a hug, "Happy Valentine's Day to you, too!"

When they separated, she looked up at his face, looming above her.

"And these are for you!" he said.

He gently handed her a dozen deep red roses wrapped in a thin plastic wrapping.

She took at them, and blushed.

"These…are for me?" she asked.

No one had ever gotten her flowers before.

"Yup," he replied, "They're for you! You're a great friend and I wanted to show my appreciation. I hope you like them."

"I love them!" she shouted, joyously. She wrapped her arms around his large metal waist, pulling him into a hug again.

She looked past him, and saw a bunch of groceries and bags of things sitting on the porch behind him. Wendy stepped out of the house to help carry them in.

It was already quite dark outside. It was 6:30 and Al had just gotten home. He had practically spent the entire day in town, shopping.

"How much stuff did you get?" she asked, looking at the huge pile of various bags and boxes.

"A lot, I guess. There were so many cool things. It's mostly food for Winry and Granny, but there are a few other things, too." Al said.

Wendy then looked down at the roses in her hands. It was so sweet that Al bought her them. She was then overcome with many emotions, so she smiled, looking up at Alphonse.

"Really, Al. This is so sweet. You're a great friend." She said, reaching for his hand.

He grabbed her hand, and then she tugged at it, urging him to bend down. He did, and she put her face near his helmet.

"Thanks, Alphonse." She whispered. Then, she pulled him even closer, and put her warm lips to the cold metal of his helmet, kissing him on the cheek.

He laughed, and she returned it. He stood back up.

"You're welcome, Wendy."

They laughed and joked with each other, and then picked up the bags and brought them into the house.

* * *

[Earlier, right after Wendy left to see who was at the door]

When Winry and Ed's conversation had come to a stop, he decided to get up and see who was at the door. He saw Wendy go to check, but she hadn't come back to the dining room yet.

He went into the living room, and saw Al outside.

Excited, he ran to the window, and looked out. He saw Wendy out there, too.

When he looked closer, his smile faltered.

Wendy was clutching a bunch of roses. Then Ed watched out the window as she took Al's hand, and then kissed him on the cheek.

Ed's breath caught, and his heart stopped.

Wendy had just kissed Al.

He was heart broken.

But he didn't know why.

Then, he got angry.

He ground his teeth together, fuming.

* * *

[Back to Present]

When Wendy and Al came in laughing, they caught sight of Ed to their right, looking extremely pissed off.

"Hi, Brother! Come look at all of the stuff I got in town today." Al said happily.

"No thanks." He replied fiercely, crossing his arms and looking away.

"What's wrong, Ed?" Wendy asked him.

"Nothing! Okay!? Nothing's wrong! Now, go mind your own business!" he barked.

Al and Wendy were confused, but just started rummaging through all of the bags, ignoring him.

"Oh! Guess what, Brother? I also got the train tickets today for you, me, and Wendy to go back to Central." Al told him.

Ed perked up a little, but still looked angry.

"Oh really? When do we leave?" Wendy said, smiling.

"Tonight. Is that alright with you guys?" Al asked.

"Yeah, tonight is fine. I'm just going to miss Resembool." She said, sadly.

Wendy took her roses, and then went to go gather her stuff, while Winry and Pinako came into the living room to help Alphonse sort everything out. Ed, however, just sat in the corner of the room, bitterly.

"Ooo, thank you for getting all of this stuff, Al. This food all looks so goo-" Winry said, but Ed interrupted her by suddenly shouting.

"I'M GOING INTO TOWN!" he announced.

"What?" Winry said. "It's dark outside. And you guys are leaving soon. Why do you want to go back into town?"

"BECAUSE I CAN!" he yelled at her, and stomped out of the house, leaving Granny, Al, and Winry in silence.

Right when Ed closed the front door, he sped off down the dirt road and sprinted into town.

When he got there, he went strait to a certain store in particular.

Resembool Jewelry.

* * *

Back at Winry's house, Wendy had finished packing, all of the groceries and things had been put away, and everyone was now anxious. Their train back to Central was leaving in an hour, and Ed wasn't back yet.

Wendy scoffed. "That idiot. Why did he leave in the first place? Maybe someone should go looking for him."

"No. He'll be back soon. Trust me." Al said.

Right on time, Ed burst through the front door right after his younger brother said he would.

Winry, Pinako, Al, and Wendy all stared at him, bewildered. He blushed, and clenched his fists.

"What are you all staring at!?" he yelled.

Then they all burst into laughter.

Ed eventually gave in, and began laughing too.

"Welcome back, Ed." Winry said.

* * *

"Stay safe in Central. I'll miss you." Winry said, hugging Wendy. She then went to Ed and Al, and exchanged more personal goodbyes. Granny Pinako did the same.

"We'll miss you! Make sure to write and call us, you dummies!" Winry shouted at them as they began down the dirt road.

The three of them looked back, and smiled and waved. "Goodbye!" they shouted.

"Hey! Ed! One more thing! You better take care of Wendy, or I'll kill you!" Winry added.

Wendy laughed, thinking that it was a joke. But, based on the terrified look on the brothers' faces, Wendy realized that Winry was actually being completely serious.

They made it to the train station barely on time. They practically hopped on the train right when they arrived at the station.

They found their seats, and talked about how great Resembool was. Wendy said she loved it there, and Ed and Al said they loved going back to their old home. But they were all relieved to go back to Central. It was the closest thing they had to a home at the time. Everything would go back to normal. The brothers would go back to trying to decode Dr. Marcoh's notes, and Wendy would continue to study. Plus, she could spend more time with her cousin, and tell him all about Resembool.

Wendy and Ed had gotten thirsty, so they looked around for someone to serve them, but they soon found out that the train they were on wasn't like the one they came to Resembool on. On this one, they had to go into a separate dining car to eat or drink. Since they were just going to get some water, Al let them go by themselves, while he stayed in his seat.

So, Ed and Wendy walked to the dining car. While they weaved themselves through the train, Ed fumbled with a small box in his pocket.

They sat down in a seat when they made it to the dining car, and simply asked for a bottle of water. A waiter went into the kitchen to get some, and then Ed started talking.

"So…earlier, Al gave you flowers, right?" he asked.

"Yeah. It was super sweet." She replied, a little too quickly.

He looked away, and he crossed his arms, looking angry again.

"And…you kissed him afterwards. Didn't you?" Ed quietly growled.

"Uhh…yeah. I did. How do you know?" she asked, slightly annoyed.

"Because I saw you!" he shouted, startling Wendy, and got weird looks from other passengers around them.

"So?" she asked.

"So!? You can't do that!" he said, lowering his voice, but still yelling.

"Are you angry I kissed your brother? Fine, I won't do it ever again." She huffed.

"No…it's just…why did you do that?" he whispered, his voice becoming fragile and quiet.

"Well, I thought what he did was really nice. It was just a friendly gesture to thank him. Nothing more." Wendy told him.

Then his entire body relaxed.

"…Really?"

"Yes." She told him, honestly.

"Okay…well…I decided to get you a Valentine's Day gift, too." He mumbled, his face turning dark red.

"You did?" she said, blushing as well.

He dipped into his pocket and shoved a small black box into her face.

"Here." He said, stubbornly.

She took it, and with shaky hands, opened up the box. She gasped, and put a hand over her mouth when she saw what was inside.

A ring.

It had a thin silver band, and a dazzling, round dark blue sapphire on top.

It was beautiful.

"O-oh my gosh…Edward…this is…" she began. She couldn't finish her sentence. She didn't know what to say.

"You don't need to get so excited about it. It's not a marriage proposal or anything. It's just a small ring I got in Resembool in the shop my Father got my Mother a ring from. It reminded me of you when I saw it, since you're the Sapphire Alchemist and all, so I got it. You're a good friend. Happy Valentine's Day, Wendy." He said, attempting to hide his blush.

Wendy started laughing.

She grinned.

"Thank you so much, Edward. It's gorgeous. I love it so much." She got up from her seat and went over to Ed, and hugged him.

He smiled as she rested her chin on his shoulder.

_Her hair smells so good. _He thought, _And her skin is so soft. And her—_

"Here you go. Sorry it took so long. At first we couldn't find any plain water bottles back there, but eventually someone found some." The waiter said, handing them their drinks. They said thank you, and then went back through the train to their seats. Wendy took out the ring and put it on her ring finger on her left hand.

She blushed, admiring it.

_This could be a real engagement ring someday._ She thought.

She shook her head and stopped thinking like that. She tried telling herself that it was just a casual friendly gift.

But, for some reason, she just didn't believe that.

* * *

They sat back down in front of Al. When he saw the ring on Wendy's finger, and the smile on Ed and her faces, he gasped.

"OH MY GOODNESS! BROTHER! YOU DIDN'T!" he screamed.

"What?" Ed said.

Alphonse pointed to the ring, and Ed and Wendy blushed.

"N-no. It's just a Valentine's Day gift. Just a friend giving a gift to another friend." He stuttered.

"So that's what you bought when you left to go to town. That's so nice of you, Brother." Al said, chuckling.

Ed and Wendy started joking and laughing for the next thirty minutes or so. Alphonse just watched them.

He noticed that his older Brother really did light up when he was talking to Wendy. He seemed so happy when he was around her. They both almost _glowed_ when they were together.

Also, Al noticed right away when Ed was angry earlier, back in Resembool. He knew that Ed was jealous that Wendy had kissed him. Even though Ed would never admit it.

All three of them talked and joked and laughed, until Wendy fell asleep first. Just as before, her head landed right on Ed's shoulder.

But, instead of trying to push it off, Ed smiled, and let her lean on him. Al teased him, and he pretended to be angry, until he fell asleep too.

* * *

It was about 2:00 in the morning, and Ed and Wendy were of course still asleep, leaning on each other.

Suddenly, Al heard quiet mumbling from Wendy while she was sleeping. He couldn't quite tell what she was saying, so he leaned in, and then he heard what she was saying in her sleep loud and clear.

"I love you, Edward."


	14. The Philosopher's Stone

**Please review, favorite, and such. Thanks for reading!**

* * *

"Brother! Brother! Wake up, Brother!" Alphonse whispered, nudging Edward.

Ed groaned, and rubbed his eyes.

"Are we in Central yet?" he asked groggily.

"Yes. We are arriving at the station right now." Al said.

The train went a forward a bit more, and then slowly came to a complete stop. Everyone slowly got up and grabbed their things to leave.

"Wendy! Wake up! Wendy!" Ed shook her awake.

She nuzzled into the train seat more and covered her face with her arm, not wanting to have to wake up.

"WENDY!" Al shouted.

She jumped, and squealed. "Okay, okay, I'm up." She rubbed her eyes, and ran her fingers through her messy hair, and then took a hair tie from in her pocket and put her hair into a high pony tail. She messed with her hair a little more, and then stood up, and stretched.

"It's good to be home." She sighed. The Brothers agreed.

Once they stepped off the train, the morning sun light caught Wendy's ring. She looked down at it, and smiled softly.

* * *

The three bounded up the steps into the Central building.

Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc just happened to be roaming around just inside the front doors. When he saw his cousin Wendy, grinning from ear to ear, his eyes widened, and he ran over to her, tackling her into a hug.

She giggled, and pressed her face up against his chest.

"Wendy! You idiot! You've been gone forever! Why didn't you call!?" Jean exclaimed.

"I'm sorry! I completely forgot! Did you miss me?" She teased, letting go of him.

"Of course I missed you," he smirked, "It's hard not to miss the best cousin in the world."

She couldn't help but laugh at his cheesy statement. They hugged one more time, then Ed, Al, and Wendy walked towards Mustang's office.

* * *

"Hey, Colonel Bastard." Ed greeted happily. Hawkeye, standing next to him, raised and eyebrow and smiled. Mustang just rolled his eyes and nodded.

"It's nice to have you back, Fullmetal. Now you can get back to work." Mustang told him casually.

"Welcome back, Edward. You too, Alphonse and Wendy." Riza said politely.

"There's no time to waste. Get back to work. You were working on something important before you left to Resembool, am I correct?" Mustang asked Ed.

"Yes. Al and I will be getting back to that right now." Al nodded and the brothers walked out of the room, leaving a clueless Wendy behind.

She shifted nervously under their stares. She coughed.

"So, Colonel Mustang, sir. May I be excused? I have a few people I need to talk to." She said formally.

Mustang laughed. "Please, just call me Mustang. No need to be so uptight."

She blushed, and then asked, "Does Ed call you that?"

"No," Mustang smirked, "If he did, I would slug him."

* * *

"Tell me all about Resembool. What was it like? Was it fun? What does your new automail look like? Who made it? What did you do there? Did you like Resembool?" Jean asked excitedly, sitting at the foot of Wendy's bed.

"Of course! It was great! It was so calm, and cozy. It seems like the kind of place I would like to settle down in when I'm older. I'd love to take you there sometime in the future." Wendy said, sitting down next to him.

She pulled off her jacket, and showed him her right arm. He gasped, and grabbed it, admiring it's details.

"Winry, Ed and Al's childhood friend, made it. That reminds me, I need to go to the bank today to make a transaction to pay for it. Isn't it cool?" she said, bobbing up and down happily.

Jean smiled. "It's awesome. So, what are you planning on doing now that you're back?"

"Well, first I'm going to the bank to do that. Then, I might grab something to eat. Maybe I'll get Ed something, too. Then, for the rest of the day, I'll either study, or see if Ed and Al need help with their work." She explained.

"Alright. Well, maybe we can hang out sometime soon." Jean suggested.

"How about tonight?" she asked, and he frowned.

"Actually, I have a date tonight. I'm really sorry. Maybe tomorrow?" Jean said.

Wendy agreed, and teased him about his new girlfriend. The two cousins laughed with each other, and then Jean left to start his shift.

Wendy unhooked her suitcase. Inside of it were piles and piles of clothes that Winry had given to her.

She pulled off the white tank top she was wearing and pulled on a red one. She then also took off the black skirt she was wearing and put on black pants, and adjusted her pony tail.

After going to the bank to send the money to Winry, she went strait to the library and plucked a book off of the first giant shelf she could find. She knew she could spend hours and hours in that room, reading all of the alchemy books she could find. However, right when she entered the room, she told herself she could only pick out one book and then leave, so that's what she precisely did.

On her way to her dorm, she passed the Elric's room, which had two stiff, professional looking military people standing in front of their closed door.

"Uh…are you two guards or something? Is everything okay with Ed and Al?" Wendy stopped an asked them, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm Second Lieutenant Maria Ross. This is Sergeant Denny Brosh. We are guarding the Elric Brother's room for the time being." A pretty woman to the right of the door introduced herself. The man on the left, apparently Sergeant Denny Brosh, waved and smiled.

"My name is Wendy Havoc. The Sapphire Alchemist," she flashed her silver pocket watch, "You may know my cousin, Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc. May I ask what you are guarding their door for?"

Acting formal and official was something Wendy didn't do very often, but when she felt the need to do so, she was able to present herself very well in front of other people. At least, that is what people have told her before.

"T-that information is classified!" Sergeant Brosh stumbled.

Wendy just sighed and easily pushed pass the two military officers and opened the door.

Papers were strewn about the floor. Edward was lying on the ground, carefully scanning a paper in his hands. Alphonse was sitting criss-cross reading a paper, as well.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked, looking around the messy room.

"Oh, hey, Wendy. Remember how Brother and I were trying to decode Dr. Marcoh's notes before we went to Resembool? Well, I think we are getting pretty close to the answer on how to make the Philosopher's stone." Al whispered excitedly. She took his whispering and the guards outside of their door as a sign that what they were working on was top secret.

"WE'RE NO WHERE _NEAR_ DECODING THESE DAMN NOTES! WE'VE BEEN SITTING HERE FOREVER." Ed shouted, and threw the stack of papers he was holding into the air.

She smiled lightly, and then proceeded to pick up the papers he threw and handed them back to him.

"I'll help you, then." She said.

The three of them read over the hundreds of papers over and over for the rest of the day until it got dark. When Wendy volunteered to help them try to decode the notes, she didn't know it was going to be this hard. They were written in an everyday kitchen recipe format that seemed impossible to crack.

Ed and Wendy yawned. They were tired, but were also still eager to figure out the secret the notes held.

"Brother. Wendy. Don't you think you two should be going to bed right now? It's pretty late. I'll continue to read over the notes while you are sleeping, but I don't know if I can find out anything useful without you helping me. But, still, you should go to sleep so your brain functions normally tomorrow." Al said.

"No. We're okay." They replied in unison.

"Come on. We can read some more tomorrow. We aren't going to be able to figure it out in just one day." Al insisted.

"Al. We can't waste anymore time. We _need_ to decode these notes. Do you understand the importance of this?" Ed gestured to the notes, "_These_ might have the answer. They might have the answer on how to make a Philosopher's Stone. They might have the answer on how to get our original bodies back. The answers are right in front of us. I can _feel_ it. You will be able to touch, and feel again, Al. We have to finish this."

Alphonse nodded solemnly. "Okay, Brother. You can stay up a little longer."

The three of them read and read some more. They wrote some things down, and memorized others. They applied all of their past knowledge of alchemy.

They stayed up until 3:00 in the morning, not even stopping to eat anything all day long.

Ed read over a particular paper he had in his hand for thirty minutes now.

The words echoed in his mind over and over.

Over, and over.

Then it clicked.

He figured it out.

Edward started shaking, and his body became stiff, and looked at Wendy and Al, with a terrified look in his eyes, his mouth open, but no words coming out.

"Ed…what's wrong?" Wendy asked, looking up from her papers. Al looked at him, too.

"I've…figured it out…" Ed mumbled, "I know how to make a Philosopher's Stone…"

When she heard those words, Wendy was too scared, and excited to move.

He handed the paper in his hands to Al.

Alphonse looked it over, and then clamped a hand over his mouth, shaking.

She snatched the paper from him and looked at it herself.

Ed had written many notes of information from other sets of notes on the right margin of the paper.

Even after reading it, she still couldn't find out what the code meant.

"I don't understand…" she told them, blankly. Fear crept up her spine, and sent shivers throughout her body.

"The secret to making a Philosopher's Stone…is human lives…" Edward whispered, frozen.

She shrieked. Al moaned. Ed stood up and punched the wall violently.

"NO! NOO! THIS CAN'T BE THE ANSWER! IT'S WRONG!" Al wailed, covering his face.

Tears streamed down her face, blurring her vision. But Wendy went around the room picking up different notes, looking at them, trying to see if there was any other possible answer. Ed was right. He had cracked the code.

The secret to making a Philosopher's stone was human lives.

Lots of them.

Second Lieutenant Maria Ross and Sergeant Denny Brosh burst into the room, hearing their screams.

"What happened? Is everyone okay!?" Ross boomed.

Ed turned around and glared at the two military officers. He lowered his head, and tears filled his eyes.

"We decoded the notes. To make a Philosopher's Stone, hundreds, maybe thousands, of people have to be _killed _in sacrifice for it." he said.

The whole room was silent. Ross and Brosh didn't know how to respond.

"So…what are you going to do now? How are you going to get your bodies back?" Brosh foolishly asked, quietly.

"I DON'T KNOW! WE CAN'T MURDER THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE JUST SO WE CAN GET OUR BODIES BACK! WE CAN'T DO THAT! WE _WON'T_ DO THAT!" Ed screamed, and then slowly sunk to the floor.

Wendy heard him quietly weep.

"Excuse me? Could you two get out for a second? We need a little time to ourselves." she whispered, staring at the ground.

The two military officers nodded and then left, closing the door behind them.

Wendy crawled over to Ed, and put her arm around him.

They didn't know what they were going to do now.

Having automail wasn't that bad of a thing for Wendy. She didn't mind it very much. It was quite a bother sometimes, but it was nothing that she couldn't deal with. She did miss the feeling from her right arm, though. That's what she missed the most, was being able to feel, and touch with her right arm and hand. She almost completely forgot what it felt like.

But for the brothers, things were different.

Especially for Alphonse.

Al couldn't feel or touch with his _entire_ body. He couldn't smell, touch, or taste. When he was sad, Al couldn't let it out by crying. When he was happy, he couldn't smile. When Wendy had kissed him, he couldn't feel what her soft lips felt like against his face. When his older brother hugged him, he couldn't feel his warmth. He couldn't sleep, ever. Every single night, he had to stay up alone for hours and hours. If he didn't have the support of his older brother, Al might have gone crazy because of it. All he was was a hollow body of armor, with a soul of a boy who belonged in a different body.

It had been like that for years.

And Edward blamed himself.

He blamed himself for Al having to go through that. Ed was willing to do _anything_ to get their bodies back, and to fulfill his promise to his little brother.

However, now that he knew the _true _cost to getting their bodies back, he didn't know what he was going to do.

_Never_, would he _ever_ murder thousands of people to fulfill his promise.

_Never._

"…What do we do now, Wendy?" Ed whispered, his voice tired and weak.

"I don't know." She told him after a few minutes.

She looked at her left hand.

A small, beautiful ring rested on her finger still.

Then she felt incredibly guilty.

She took the brothers to Resembool with her. They spent several days there. They could have been in Central, trying to decode the notes. Wendy had just been distracting them, and wasting their time.

Her stomach churned.

_It would have been best if Ed and Al had never met me. I'm holding them back. And then somewhere in the crazy time I've known them, I somehow fell in love with Edward. I'm not sure how, and I'm not sure why. That's why I have to leave. As soon as possible. Out of Amestris. It might kill me being without them, but my feelings don't matter. _Wendy thought.

_Tomorrow. I'm leaving tomorrow. I can't take it anymore. I can't take being in love with him when I know I can't have him. It's breaking me down inside. I have to leave before it becomes real. It's too much for me to handle. They need to keep moving forward…without me. _

Wendy had made up her mind.

She had to leave Amestris, Ed, Al, and all of her feelings behind.

She had to.


	15. Goodbyes

Wendy tore her alchemy gloves off of her hands and threw them onto her nightstand. She had excused herself from the Elric's room so the brothers could talk things out themselves.

Her final decision was that she was going to spend the as much time as she could with her cousin today. Wendy and Jean could finally spend time together as a family, now that she was back from Resembool.

She wanted to be able to bond with him before she left.

Wendy walked into Mustang's office and asked him where her cousin was. He simply pointed her in the right direction and she saw him.

"Jean!" she called over to him.

When he caught sight of her, he grinned. They walked to each other and hugged, then swiftly letting go.

"Hey Wendy. What's up?"

"Uh…Cousin Jean, could you come talk to me somewhere private? There's something really important I have to tell you."

He frowned, but still looked over at Roy for permission. The colonel nodded, and so Wendy and Jean walked out together.

Instead of going to talk in her room, they went outside into the small garden that grew behind the Central building.

Beautiful wild flowers bloomed all around them. Hues of yellow, red, pink, green, purple, and orange were everywhere. It was a very sunny morning, and there was a fantastic cool, light breeze that chilled their skin. The thick leaves on the trees swayed gently.

"So how was your date last night?" she asked, starting a conversation.

He smirked, "It was great. The gal I was with is a real winner. She pretty, wealthy, smart…"

Jean looked over at Wendy as he trailed off. Her face was a sickly salmon color, and there were large grey bags forming under her eyes. Tears stained her smiling face.

"Wendy…what happened to you? Have you not been sleeping? Were you crying?"

She looked uncomfortable, and her eyes darted everywhere except for at him.

"Is it that obvious?"

"What did you bring me out here for? What did you want to tell me? You can say it. Remember that you can tell me anything. What's been on your mind?" Jean asked.

"Well…" she turned to him and looked him directly in the eyes. She clenched her fists, and looked determined.

"I'm leaving."

"What?" Jean said, his expression turning to a terrified one. Wendy started feeling really guilty.

"I'm leaving Amestris. I'm not sure where I'm going, but I just need to get out of the country. I was originally going to leave today without saying anything, but I would have felt terrible. I needed to say goodbye to you. I couldn't just leave you without saying something. I'm planning on resigning my title of a state alchemist tomorrow. Hopefully I can leave before tomorrow afternoon."

Jean said nothing. He was completely shocked. He looked at his strong cousin.

Before, he had only thought of her as a younger sibling that he loved very much.

But, now, with her standing before him, he saw a different person.

Her hair was long, and flowing. Her automail arm shimmered. A firm muscle on her left arm was forming. Before, her eyes were round and innocent. Now they were narrow, and had a mature, feminine flame burning in them.

She was growing up.

And there was nothing he could do about it.

"I've made up my mind, Jean. You can't stop me." She finally told him.

The corners of his mouth turned up into a loving smile. His shoulders relaxed.

"I know." He said.

She looked confused. "Wait…so you're _not_ going to try to stop me?"

"Nope. Like you said, I can't stop you."

"I thought you were going to put up a bit more of a fight."

He laughed. "I'm still going to miss you, though. But, you're going to have to start your own journey eventually. I can't always be there to protect you."

She sighed. "I know. I think I can protect myself enough. But I will miss you, too."

"But…where are you going to go? If you're not going to stay in Amestris, then what country will you go to? How long will you stay there?"

Wendy thought for a little bit. She hadn't quite decided that yet.

"Now that I think about it, I think that I'm going back to Xing. I can stay with my master. I can continue my alchemy training until I'm ready to return to Amestris. I'll be safe with him."

"That's good. While you're in Xing, you better train hard, and become the best alchemist you can be."

"I will," she said, "That is what my Brother had wanted for me. He told me that I should keep pushing myself until I can perform to the best of my abilities."

"Okay, Wendy. I trust that you are making the right decision, but…" Jean whispered, "Why? Why are you leaving? You're one of the best state alchemists right now. You are smart, and powerful. You worked so hard to get your state title. Why would you want to throw all of that away to go back to Xing to train?"

She looked down at her feet. She knew that her cousin still had no idea about her feelings for Edward. So, she just told him the truth.

"I need to put my life back on track, and continue to work towards my biggest goal: which is to become the best alchemist I can be. I don't want to be the best in history. I just want to make my Brother, and my mom, proud. And I also want to be able to prove to my Aunt that I'm not useless. That I'm not a monster. That I'm human, and that I'm worth something. I have to prove it to her. I have to prove it to the world. Or, at least, whoever is listening."

He smiled, and tears rested in the rims of his eyes.

"If that is what you want, then I'll support you." He said.

"Also," she added softly, "There is someone else who has a promise that they need to keep. I can't be here to distract them from it. Even if I love them."

Jean didn't know what she was talking about. Who did she love? What promise was she speaking of?

"Edward," she explained, "I somehow fell in love with him. He promised to get his and Al's original bodies back. That's why I need to leave. They don't need another burden. It's the best thing for the both of us. I will just have to deal with the pain while I'm gone."

Silent tears ran down Jean's face. He still smiled, despite the liquid dripping off of his chin.

It seemed like whenever he talked to Wendy, he always ended up letting his guard down, and becoming emotional.

Without warning, he pulled her in for a hug. She softly put her arms around him as well. Because of the large height difference between them, he bent down, and snuggled into her shoulder. She smiled, and let him stay there for a bit longer, until he let go.

"I love you. Goodbye." He whispered softly.

"I love you, too." She murmured.

They hugged for a little longer, and then Jean had to leave the garden and go back to work.

Their goodbye was somewhat brief, but also bittersweet. Wendy regretted not being able to be with him that much before she was going to leave.

Then, standing in the garden, her hair brushing against her smooth, exposed shoulders, she asked herself out loud,

"What do I do now?"

* * *

Ed and Al were still wallowing in the truth. Now they _couldn't_ make a Philosopher's Stone. They would have to find a different way to regain their original bodies.

"Brother," Alphonse said, "I brought you some food. At least _try_ to eat it."

Al stepped into the room, and handed Ed a tray with a spread of breakfast foods on it. Ed didn't even see him leave the room in the first place.

Edward glanced at the food, and his stomach growled. He was really hungry, but he was still too depressed to eat.

"Please, Brother? You need to eat." Al begged.

Ed sighed, and started to slowly cut up his bacon.

"I wonder where Wendy is right now." Al wondered aloud.

Ed stopped moving when he heard her name, but said nothing. Then he went back to eating.

"I'll be right back. I'm going to find her." Al told him. He nodded.

* * *

Wendy heard a quiet knock at her door.

"Come in!" she called, while folding a shirt and putting it into a suitcase Jean gave her.

"Hey, Wendy." Alphonse said, walking in.

"Hi Al. How is Ed doing?" she asked, still folding more clothes.

"Actually, that's what I'm here to talk about." He told her.

Wendy stopped, and turned to him.

"You're here to talk about Ed?"

"Yes. Well, more specifically, I'm here to talk about you _and_ Ed." Al said.

Her eyes widened, and her hands trembled slightly. Does Al know?

As if reading her thoughts, he said, "You're in love my brother. Aren't you, Wendy?"

There was no use denying it now.

"Yes. I love Ed."

Alphonse nodded.

Suddenly, out of no where, he started jumping around, his metal feet slamming against the carpet of her room.

"I KNEW IT! I TOTALLY CALLED IT! I COULD TELL YOU WERE MEANT FOR EACH OTHER THE MOMENT YOU TWO MET!" he squealed.

Wendy laughed. "Calm down, Al! You're going to break something if you keep jumping around like that!"

"Sorry," he said, standing still, "I'm just so excited! I'm so happy for you!"

"Wait. How did you know about it?" Wendy asked.

Alphonse thought for a moment. "On the train back from Resembool. While you were sleeping, I heard you talking. You said you loved him."

Her cheeks burned bright red, and she groaned. She sat down at the foot of her bed, and hid her face with her hands.

"I still talk in my sleep?" she said, ashamed.

He chuckled. "Yes. Did you used to do that?"

She nodded. "When I was younger, I would have night terrors. Every night I would have the same nightmare, and I would always wake up screaming, and in tears."

"That sounds awful. You had the same exact dream every night?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied, "I had a flashback to the night when my brother and I attempted human transmutation. It was horrifying. I re-lived that night every single time I slept."

"I'm so sorry," Al said, sitting down next to her, "I can't imagine what that would feel like."

"It was pretty bad. However, ever since I met you and Ed, it seems like I haven't been having that nightmare anymore. It's very strange how I've had it my entire life, until just recently."

"That is weird," he agreed, "Anyways, I know this may be painful to talk about, but, I was wondering, if you could tell me about that night. I'm curious if your experience with human transmutation was the same as ours."

Then, slowly, Wendy told him everything. She started from the very beginning. She told him about how nice her Mother was, and about all the faint good memories they had together. She told him about how the night she lost her brother was like. She even showed him the scars she had on her back from when her Aunt would cut her. She told him everything.

Alphonse was so easy to talk to. He didn't judge Wendy at all. He listened politely the entire time, and comforted her when she needed it.

"And that's when I met you two." She said, concluding her story.

"Wow, Wendy." Al spoke, not knowing how to continue, "You've been through a lot. It's odd how much you smile, even after all the pain you've had to endure."

"I suppose." she said, "It doesn't benefit anyone to just think about your past. If you just keep smiling, and pushing forward, things will be alright."

"I guess broken pieces fit together the best." Al said.

Wendy laughed. "You're definitely right. Anyways, I think Ed is getting a bit lonely. You should probably go back to him. I have some things I need to finish. I'll see you later then, Alphonse?"

"Yeah. Bye Wendy." He replied happily. He hugged her, and then left.

* * *

After he was gone, she collapsed onto her bed. It was nice to let everything off of her chest like that.

Wendy then started thinking about how good Ed and Al are as her friends.

They made her laugh when she was down. They knew her like no one else did. They understood her pain more than anyone ever could.

It was going to be hard to say goodbye to them.

It was going to be _especially_ hard to say goodbye to the one she loved.


	16. Left With a Kiss

**Hello, readers. Finally, here's chapter 16. The last chapter of "Two of a Kind". The sequel series is called "I'll Carry You", and the first few chapters are up on my profile. Reviews are VERY much appreciated. Writing this story has been an amazing journey for me. Thank you so much for reading. Enjoy. :)**

* * *

Wendy woke with a start. A noise coming from inside of her room startled her awake.

She sat up in her bed, and rubbed her eyes. She stretched, and yawned.

Today was the day.

She looked at her nightstand. On top of them were the roses Alphonse had given her.

They were weltered, and dead.

Wendy looked up, and screamed.

Her cousin, Jean, was standing at the end of her bed.

"JEAN!? What the hell!?" she yelled at him, then took a pillow from behind her and chucked it at him.

He laughed as it softly hit him and fell to the floor.

"Sorry for scaring you. I'm here to tell you that I asked Roy to give me the day off, and he let me. I want to spend the whole day with you. I was thinking we could spend a day out on the town." He told her, grinning.

She smiled lightly. "Yeah. Give me a little while to get dressed."

He nodded, and she got up and went into the bathroom.

Wendy looked into the mirror. Her heart raced, and her stomach clenched.

_How am I going to tell Ed and Al goodbye?_

She left her hair down, and brushed it out. She slipped on a blue tank top, and black pants, with her navy and black boots.

Wendy strolled out of the bathroom, and her cousin smiled at her.

"Wow. You look pretty in blue. You should wear that color more often."

She blushed. "Alright you idiot, let's go to town."

* * *

Their first stop was a little diner where they picked up a hot breakfast. Wendy had never been to a restaurant like that, and she was very attracted to the warm atmosphere and friendly people inside.

After they finished eating, Jean escorted Wendy all over town, showing her all of the cute shops and stores. She didn't really get to explore the culture in Central very much yet, so it was nice seeing all of the regular townspeople going about their everyday routines.

It was also a perfect day to walk around town, too. The sky was a bit more overcast than usual, and there was a chillier breeze in the air, but everyone in town made up for it by their warm kindness.

Around noon, he had taken her to a little ice cream cart so they could pick up a treat.

"Two vanillas." Jean told the man.

He nodded, and handed them their ice cream.

Jean then proceeded to pay the man, and then they walked off.

"Thanks." Wendy said, smiling and taking a lick.

"You're welcome." Jean said, tussling her hair, and they both laughed.

"I'm going to miss you." He said, turning to her.

Wendy frowned. "Don't remind me about it, please."

"I still can't believe that I might never see you again." He spoke, swiveling his head, trying to hide his pain.

"Please, Jean. I don't want to talk about it. I'm sad too, you know."

"I know. But, still. I don't completely understand why you are leaving. If you want to get away from Ed and Al, then why don't you just avoid them? They don't even stay in Central that often. They travel a lot. You don't have to leave the _country_ just to get away from them."

Wendy frowned. "It's more than that," she sighed, "It's not just that I want to leave them. There's more to the story. I just…can't be near them. At all."

He furrowed his brows. "You hate them that much?"

"What? No," she said, "It's the exact opposite. I care too much for them to stay here. I need to leave. I've made my decision. I'm not a child anymore, and I know what I want."

He sighed. "I know you aren't a child anymore, Wendy. But I think that you're still too young to make decisions like that. Don't forget, you are still a dog of the military. You can't just leave the country so easily. You're only fourteen."

"I'm not stupid! I told you this stuff already. I'm going to resign my title as state alchemist today. I have everything else figured out. I don't need your help."

Jean started to get angry. "You are so stupid! I'm just barely getting to know you, and then you decide to leave! You're just caught up in a dream! You're not thinking strait!"

She clenched her fists. "This isn't a dream. I am going to do this. And I'm sorry we never got to spend a lot of time together. But you don't control my life."

Then he started shouting, gaining the attention of people around them.

"This is just a phase you're going through right now! You're going to go to Xing and then you're going to regret it immediately and want to come running back home! Don't be an idiot! If you leave, you will have _nothing_! I'm all you have! The rest of your family is _gone_! You will loose your state alchemist title, your friends, and everything! IF YOU LEAVE, THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT OF YOU!"

Her eyes widened, and she looked at him in horror.

"How dare you." She growled, trying to hold back her anger. She didn't know what else to say. He had _no_ right to tell her that.

"Now, stop being a dumb ass and let's go back to Central." He said, grabbing her wrist gently and pulling her away from the crowd of people.

She pulled away from his grasp, and started shaking from anger.

"I can't _believe _you! You don't control me!"

Jean looked at her and growled.

Then she exploded.

Wendy clapped her hands, and slapped them onto the ground in front of him. Using her alchemy, the area of ground beneath him rose up, and he fell over.

"Don't be a child!" he yelled, getting back up.

Whenever he got back up, she would make the ground rise up from beneath him, making him fall over.

Again, and again, and again.

"Stop it, Wendy! I'm not going to fight you!" he told her, getting back up.

She made the ground under him come up one more time, and she watched him fall down.

He looked up at her, frowning.

Wendy looked at his gentle, loving eyes. Then small tears fell down her face. She shouldn't have attacked him. It was uncalled for.

"I'm so sorry." She said, tackling him into a hug.

He laughed, and she snuggled into his shoulder.

"I was as rebellious as you when I was your age. But, I was still able to make intelligent decisions. So I'm going to trust you."

Wendy smiled. "Thank you for trusting me."

They both got up, and walked back to Central. Jean pulled out a cigarette, and lit it, placing it between his lips.

"Want one?" he offered Wendy jokingly.

She laughed, and pushed him playfully.

"No thanks."

"I have one more thing to ask you." Jean said.

"Huh?"

"Do you really love Ed?"

Wendy's cheeks burned, and she sighed.

"The absolute truth is: yes. I love him more than I have anyone before. It has been slowly killing me inside knowing that I can't be with him. He's my world, and my missing piece. I can't even imagine my life without him. I _love_ him. But, like I said before, I will have to deal with it. I have to leave to help him." She looked up at her cousin, smiling.

"Wow…" Jean breathed, then realizing the true depths of Wendy's feelings. "Does he love you back?"

"I don't know," she frowned, "I've never even told him how I feel yet."

* * *

"What did you bring us in here for? I thought Jean had the day off work." Wendy asked Colonel Mustang, when she walked into his office, with Jean trailing behind.

Mustang had called them into his office saying that they needed to have a "talk".

"He does. But there were some complaints in town about a man and a girl yelling at each other, and then there were reports of the girl attacking the man with alchemy. Do you two know anything about that?" Mustang asked, raising and eyebrow.

Wendy and Jean looked at each other, and then burst into laughter.

"Sorry about that. It won't happen again." Wendy apologized, looking at the Colonel.

Roy just observed them for awhile, and then said, "Wow. I've never seen the two Havoc cousins together before. Now that I see you two side by side, I can actually see a resemblance."

Jean smiled. "She gets her good looks from me."

* * *

It was about 5:00 p.m., and Wendy walked back to her dorm.

She sat down onto her bed, and took out a piece of paper and a pencil from the drawer in her nightstand. Using her lap as a desk, she began writing.

_Dear Edward and Alphonse-_

_ It's really painful for me to write this, but I thought it would be easier to do than to tell you in person. So here it is-_

_ I'm leaving tonight. I'm going to Xing, and I plan on living there for at least a few months, possibly up to a year. I am going to find my master and continue my training in alchemy. _

_ I know this is very sudden, but this is what I want. I've made my final decision, and I'm not changing my mind. _

_ You didn't do anything wrong, or make me angry, so please don't blame yourselves. I'm leaving because of myself, not because of you. _

_ You two don't need another burden. I'm just holding you back when you should be moving forward. I need to continue my own journey, without you. _

_ Ed, you and I both made promises. Promises we need to keep, no matter what. You need to get you and your brother's original bodies back, and I need to train to strengthen my alchemic abilities. _

_I will miss you more than you can even imagine. You've both had such an impact on my life, and I will never forget you._

_ I'm not sure when I'm coming back to Amestris, but I do know that leaving is what I must do. It's for the best._

_ I'm also so very sorry again that I'm not saying goodbye to your faces. Because if I did, I think that I wouldn't be able to handle it. It would just be too painful._

_ Keep moving forward._

_ Goodbye._

_ -Wendy Havoc _

Tears dripped onto the paper as she wrote the last words.

Wendy set her letter on her night stand for now, and then got up from her bed to pack her last things that she needed into her suitcase.

* * *

It was then 7:45 p.m., and Wendy had taken a shower, and packed the rest of her things up.

Before she was going to deliver the letter, she decided that she was going to pay Colonel Mustang a proper visit.

She held her pocket watch tightly.

"Hello, Colonel." Wendy said, marching right up to him in his office, confidently.

"Hello Wendy. What are you here for?" He asked, not looking up from his paperwork. Riza Hawkeye was no where in sight.

She tossed her pocket watch onto his desk, knocking into a pile of papers and sliding to the edge.

"I'm resigning my title as state alchemist." She told him simply.

He raised his eyebrow, and now gave her his full attention.

"Havoc told me that you would be resigning, but I didn't think he was actually being serious."

Wendy just stood still and breathed evenly.

"Can I ask _why_ you're doing something so stupid like that? Some people _dream_ of becoming a state certified alchemist. Others say it's awful. But, you, you become a state alchemist and then resign your position less than a month later after getting it?"

"Yes. I still don't think I'm as strong as an alchemist as I can be yet. I'm going to train in Xing and then come back for my title."

Mustang smirked. "Why are you so confident that you're going to get your title back, even after you train?"

Wendy grinned. "Just you wait, old man. When I come back I'm going to be the best damn alchemist you've ever seen. Don't you dare doubt me for a second. I'm a _Havoc_, and Havocs never give up."

Mustang chuckled. "I suppose with that last name I can't doubt you."

"Save the title 'Sapphire Alchemist' for me, alright? I'll be back!" she shouted, walking away.

He watched as she walked out of his office door.

"Both Wendy and one of my most trusted subordinates both have the same fire in their eyes." Mustang laughed.

* * *

Wendy decided she needed some fresh air to clear her head.

She winded through the building and eventually made it outside to the garden where she and Jean were talking the day before. She had grown to really like that place, and the beautiful scenery helped calm her down.

She soon found a nice place to sit. It was a wooden bench in a small closed off area.

The area was surrounded by trees, and to get into it you had to squeeze between a bunch of thick bushes.

Many small little fireflies flew around, providing a nice amount of light. The grass was lush, soft, and slightly damp. The air smelt wonderful, like earth and rain. Leaves from the trees fell and swirled in the air like petals from a flower.

It was magnificent.

She walked in further, and sat down onto the bench comfortably. She closed her eyes, leaned her head back, and took a deep breath.

Suddenly, Wendy heard a noise.

Footsteps.

Light foot steps padding against the wet grass, and they sounded like they were getting closer and closer to her little area.

"Hello?" a voice called out.

She froze, knowing that voice right away.

It was Edward's.

"Hello? Who's there?" Ed called out again.

She didn't _dare_ to make a noise, or even breath.

She heard his footsteps come even closer, and soon heard him climbing past the two bushes into the area.

"Wendy? Is that you?" he asked, squinting to try to see her better. He walked forward, and saw her face being illuminated by the fireflies' light.

"Wendy! What are you doing here?" Ed asked.

"What are you doing here?" she returned.

Ed laughed. "I needed some fresh air. I had enough reading alchemy books all day."

Wendy laughed too. "Yup. Same here. I thought some fresh air could do me some good too."

"Do you mind if I join you?" Ed asked, gesturing to the spot on the bench next to her.

"I don't mind." She replied smiling, and he sat down.

"It's a beautiful night tonight, isn't it? Just look at that moon." He said, pointing at it. Wendy looked up. The moon was bright, and large.

"Yeah," she agreed, "It's really pretty tonight."

"So, where were you all day today?" He asked, turning towards her.

"I spent the day with Jean. He took me around town and showed me a bunch of shops in the city."

"That's nice. Sounds like fun."

Wendy nodded, and then they both kept silent for a few minutes, just admiring the scenery around them.

Then, she suddenly felt the heat from his skin. Was he moving closer to her? Or was that just her imagination?

"Umm…Al told me about what you told him." He finally said.

"What? What did Al say?" she asked, confused.

"Everything that you told him the other day. About your past, and about the scars on your back. Why didn't you tell us sooner? Why didn't you tell me at all?"

Edward tried looking her in the eyes, but she refused to look back at him.

"It's not easy to talk about. I probably should have told you though. I'm sorry, Ed." She mumbled, and then she lifted her head, looking at him.

"Can I see them?" Ed whispered, his face dusting pink.

"My scars? That's exactly what Al asked. Sure." Wendy said.

She turned away from him, and lifted up her shirt half way up her back.

Ed quietly gasped, and scooted closer to her. They weren't little red marks. They were large and very wide. It was awful, and painful for Ed to even look at.

Slowly, he lifted his left arm, and traced his finger along one of her scars. His warm touch sent tingles through her body.

He pulled his arm away, but his hand lingered by her bare back for a moment, and then completely pulled away.

"I'm so sorry, Wendy." He whispered.

She put her shirt down and turned back around.

"Thanks for worrying. But, I don't want pity." She said.

"No one should have to go through that for their entire childhood. It's horrible, and so wrong." Ed growled, grinding his teeth.

Tears came from her shimmering blue eyes.

"Wendy…" he quietly spoke, looking at her.

He put his hand underneath her chin, and lifted her head up.

"I'm here now…okay? I'll always be here." He whispered, and pulled her into a hug.

They wrapped their arms around each other, and pulled closer, the heat from their bodies spreading to one another.

Wendy's heart was beating so fast and loud, that she could hear it.

Ed lightly pulled away.

Edward's golden eyes searched her blue ones.

He pulled Wendy closer, and soon…

their lips touched.

Their kiss was sweet, long, and passionate.

It didn't feel forced.

It was soft, and gentle.

It was beautiful.

They moved apart, and Ed smiled.

Wendy smiled back.

"Wendy…I-" Ed began, but was interrupted by Wendy jumping up off of the bench onto her feet.

"I…I…I have to go!" she abruptly said, and then dashed away from him and towards the bushes.

"Wait! Wendy! Where are you going!?" Ed shouted, but she just kept running, weaving her way through the garden.

Tears blurred her eyes, but she had to keep running. She couldn't let Ed catch up to her, no matter what. She shouldn't have even kissed him.

But Wendy couldn't deny that it was the best thing she had ever experienced in her whole life.

"Wendy! Wait! WENDY!" she heard Ed screaming, so she ran quicker. Eventually, she couldn't hear his yells anymore, so he must have either stopped running or was far behind.

She scrambled into the Central building and through the halls to her dorm.

Wendy grasped her suitcase, and her letter. She bolted down the hallway to Ed and Al's room, where she way hoping Alphonse would be.

She knocked frantically on the door, worrying that Ed would turn around the corner any second now.

Al opened the door, and she practically threw the letter at him.

"Oh, hi Wendy. Is this a letter? Why are you in such a hurry?" Al asked.

"Just read it, and give it to Ed when he comes back. I have to go. Goodbye Al!" she called over her shoulder, darting away down the hall.

She burst out of the Central building and kept running until she made it to the train station.

It was time.

* * *

Alphonse read the letter for the hundredth time.

"No…" he whimpered, "This can't be happening. She can't be leaving. Brother will be heart broken."

Al couldn't decide if he should run after Wendy to try to say goodbye, or to wait until Ed got back to the dorm. He had left to get fresh air awhile ago, and hadn't yet returned.

Then Al made his mind. He had to run after her.

He set the letter down somewhere Ed could easily see it when he came back, and then jogged out the room.

He concluded that the most reasonable place she would be is at the train station.

So that's where he ran to.

* * *

Edward strolled down the hallway, and slowly came to his door.

He was still shocked. Why had Wendy run away from him?

The door was slightly open.

_Why did Al leave the door open? Is he still in there? _Ed wondered.

He slipped into the room, and Al was nowhere to be seen. A small piece of paper rested on a side table and caught his eye.

Ed picked it up, and when he read over it, his legs gave out from underneath him, and he fell to the ground, trembling.

"No…Wendy…she's….leaving." he mumbled, his whole body feeling numb.

He looked around the room. Al must have gone to her to say goodbye.

She was probably leaving right now.

"NOOO!" he wailed, and ran in whatever direction his instincts told him to. He had to find her, and talk some sense into her.

He couldn't even take a breath while he was running.

He now had to admit to himself that he was totally and completely in love with her. He couldn't bare to let her go.

The love of his life was leaving the country.

The one person he would be willing to spend the rest of his life with. The one person he loved completely, flaws and all. The one person he was forever connected to through spirit.

Wendy Havoc was leaving.

He ran as fast as his legs would propel him.

* * *

Wendy crinkled the ticket in her hand as she nervously held onto it. Her train would be pulling up to the station any minute now.

"WEEENNDDY!" Al shouted, spotting her in the crowd of people.

She looked over, and saw Al running towards her.

"Wendy! What are you doing!? You can't leave!" Al insisted, finally running up to her.

"Al! What are you doing here!? Is Ed with you!?" she worried.

"No. He wasn't even back at our dorm by the time I left to find you. It's just me here."

Wendy sighed. "Thank goodness."

"Wendy! Don't leave! I don't think that Brother will be able to take it!" Al said

"He can handle losing a friend for a few months. He doesn't need me." She whispered, looking away.

"Don't you understand!? He doesn't just think of you as a friend! He _loves_ you! He loves you so much! He told me he would die for you, or do anything to keep you safe. You can't just walk out on us like this."

Wendy's eyes widened.

"He…loves me?"

Alphonse nodded. "Of course he does. You can't leave us. You know us better than anyone else. You're the best friend we've ever had. _Please_ don't leave. _Please_."

Although Al couldn't express his emotions very clearly, Wendy could hear the strain in his voice and the panic behind his words.

"I'm sorry, Alphonse. I have to go. I'll miss you." She whispered, and then wrapped her arms around him.

He knew there was no convincing her to stay.

"I'll miss you too. Stay safe in Xing." He whispered lovingly back.

They heard the angry whistle of the train pulling up.

"I have to go now. Goodbye, Al." she said.

He watched her back as she walked away to board the train.

* * *

Ed looked around through the crowd of people, his heart thumping against his chest. No one looked like her.

He cursed under his breath. Where was she?

"Brother?" Al asked, walking up to him.

"Al? What are you doing here? Where's Wendy!?" he asked.

Then, they heard the crisp sound of a train leaving the station.

Ed looked at his younger brother, and understood what happened.

Her train was leaving.

"NOOOO! WEENDY! DAMN IT! COME BACK! WEEENDDDYY!" Ed shrieked, tears poured out of his eyes, and he collapsed to the ground.

"Wendy…come back…" he whispered, burying his face into his knees.

Al patted his shoulder as he cried.

He couldn't imagine what his brother was feeling.

* * *

Wendy's warm breath fogged up the cold window. She heard screaming outside of the train.

It sounded like Ed.

She clamped her hands over her ears. The collar of her shirt soon became soaked with tears.

The train slowly started up, and began moving.

"Goodbye, Amestris." Wendy said.


End file.
